Chapter 93 - 91: We Used a Mountain as a Power Source

Chapter 93: Chapter 91: We Used a Mountain as a Power Source

There were several sentences Arin had learned made people nervous.

"I have an idea."

"Technically, this should work."

And apparently—

"We’re going to use the mountain to turn it on."

Cassian remained silent over communications for six full seconds.

Then:

"Explain."

Arin looked through the tunneler’s viewport at the enormous crystal cavern.

"Later."

"No."

"We’re underground."

"I know."

"The mountain may rupture."

"I also know."

"So—"

"Arin."

That wasn’t Cassian.

Tavian had joined the channel.

Arin immediately became more concerned.

"Why are you here?"

"Because someone requested transportation of an experimental Long-Range Mana Core prototype into an unstable mountain."

"Yes."

"Without informing the person responsible for Elysium’s resources."

"We’re informing you now."

Silence.

Lucan covered his mouth.

Tavian spoke very calmly.

"Arin."

"Yes?"

"I am going to kill you."

"After we stabilize the mountain?"

"Preferably."

Fair.

EVE transmitted the full model.

Complaints stopped.

Mostly.

The natural crystal cavern sat approximately three hundred meters above the hydrothermal pressure chamber.

Mana-rich groundwater circulated through fractures between them.

Every pressure pulse released heat and mana upward.

Normally, the surrounding rock absorbed it.

Now twelve years of pressure changes had destabilized the entire system.

The cavern was already acting as a natural buffer.

Just not efficiently enough.

The plan was simple.

Which meant it wasn’t.

They would drill three controlled relief channels from the pressure chamber into the cavern.

The natural crystals would absorb the initial mana surge.

Water would flash into steam.

Pressure would then travel through Arin’s artificial relief tunnel toward the empty northern valley.

And the experimental Long-Range Mana Core would sit between the cavern and relief system.

Not powering the process.

Regulating it.

If successful, the core would experience sustained output conditions far beyond anything Elysium could safely reproduce.

If unsuccessful—

Lucan read the simulation.

"We explode."

"Possibly."

"How large?"

EVE answered.

"The cavern."

"That’s not what I asked."

"Potentially part of the mountain."

Lucan looked at Arin.

Arin nodded.

"Yes."

"I preferred the cavern."

The Core arrived ninety minutes later.

Transporting it through the freight tunnel required three vehicles, twelve engineers, A-03, and Victor.

Victor was not technically required.

He came anyway.

Arin climbed out of the tunneler when they reached the cavern access.

Victor stared through the opening.

Blue crystals illuminated everything.

His mouth opened.

Then closed.

Then opened again.

Arin waited.

Victor finally said:

"I don’t have a joke."

Lucan looked shocked.

"Should we call a healer?"

Victor ignored him.

"This place is worth a fortune."

Cassian’s voice came through communications.

"Greyhaven’s fortune."

Victor nodded.

"Obviously."

Arin looked at him.

Victor frowned.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I can respect property."

Lucan coughed.

"Occasionally."

The Long-Range Mana Core was smaller than Arin expected.

Two meters tall.

Cylindrical.

Titanite reinforcement surrounded a crystalline central chamber.

Cooling lines wrapped around the exterior.

At its center floated a high-density Mana Crystal.

The prototype represented weeks of research.

And an unreasonable amount of money.

Tavian stood beside it.

Physically.

Arin stared.

"You came."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Tavian looked at the Core.

"Because if you’re going to destroy something this expensive, I want to witness the crime."

"Supportive."

"I try."

Rian arrived behind him.

Arin frowned.

"No."

Rian stopped.

"You didn’t even let me speak."

"No."

"I’m part of the engineering team."

"Above-ground engineering team."

"We’re six hundred meters underground."

"Exactly."

Rian crossed his arms.

Arin crossed his.

Lucan whispered to Victor:

"Ten silver on Rian."

"Agreed."

Arin heard them.

"Both of you stop."

Rian pointed toward the Core.

"I helped build the thermal regulator."

True.

"I know its emergency bypass."

Also true.

"If something goes wrong, you’ll need someone who understands it."

Arin looked at EVE.

She nodded.

Traitor.

"Fine."

Rian smiled.

"Stay beside A-03."

His smile disappeared.

"I’m not twelve."

"No."

"Then—"

"Beside A-03."

Rian sighed.

"Fine."

Victor quietly handed Lucan ten silver.

Installation took two hours.

The mountain pulsed seven times.

Each one stronger than the last.

The cavern reacted visibly now.

Crystals brightened.

Water trembled.

Hairline cracks appeared along several pillars.

EVE updated the failure window.

ESTIMATED CRITICAL EVENT:

3–11 HOURS.

Nobody spoke.

Arin looked at the Core.

"How long until ready?"

Rian answered.

"Forty minutes."

"Make it thirty."

Tavian immediately said:

"No."

Arin looked at him.

"We do not rush the machine regulating the exploding mountain."

Good point.

"Forty."

Greyhaven evacuated the northern district.

Cassian refused to evacuate the entire settlement.

Arin agreed.

The southern and western sectors were outside projected collapse zones.

Still, transports remained ready.

Independent Hunters assisted.

The newly formed local patrol coordinated routes.

The provisional committee ran shelters.

Arin watched updates while connecting the final control line.

Nobody waited for House Elysium.

Nobody needed Arin standing beside them.

Greyhaven was handling Greyhaven.

Good.

That was the point.

Thirty-eight minutes later, the Core was ready.

EVE displayed the sequence.

Phase One.

Core ignition.

Phase Two.

Controlled bore into the pressure chamber.

Phase Three.

Mana absorption.

Phase Four.

Pressure redirection.

Phase Five.

Try not to die.

Victor had added Phase Five.

EVE refused to remove it.

Arin stood at the primary console.

Lucan beside him.

Tavian behind.

Rian at thermal controls.

A-01 and A-03 secured the Core.

Victor monitored the relief tunnel.

EVE connected to everything.

"Ready?" Arin asked.

Lucan looked around.

"No."

"Good enough."

Arin activated the Core.

Nothing happened.

Victor waited.

"Was something supposed to—"

The Core illuminated.

Blue-white light filled the chamber.

The surrounding crystals answered.

One.

Ten.

A hundred.

Thousands.

The entire cavern became daylight.

Rian stared at his instruments.

"Output stable."

Tavian looked surprised.

"Cooling?"

"Stable."

EVE spoke.

"Proceeding to Phase Two."

The deep-bore machine activated.

Its drill entered the cavern floor.

Five meters.

Ten.

Twenty.

Heat increased.

Thirty.

Forty.

Then—

The drill broke through.

The mountain screamed.

There was no better description.

Steam exploded upward.

The tunneler was thrown sideways.

The Core surged.

Every warning alarm activated.

Rian shouted:

"Output one hundred forty percent!"

"Cooling?"

"Holding!"

"Pressure?"

EVE answered:

"Rising!"

The natural crystals blazed.

Mana poured through them.

The Core absorbed.

Regulated.

Transferred.

The relief tunnel opened.

For three seconds—

Everything worked.

Then one of the relief gates jammed.

Victor stared at his panel.

"Gate Three isn’t opening!"

Arin looked.

Pressure climbed.

One hundred sixty percent.

One hundred eighty.

If Gate Three stayed closed—

The surge would return into the cavern.

"Manual release."

Victor looked toward the gate.

It sat seventy meters away.

Across a platform currently being blasted by superheated steam.

"I’ll go."

"No."

Victor stared.

"Someone has to."

A-01 stepped forward.

"I will."

Arin immediately—

Stopped.

A-01 looked at him.

"You will say no."

Arin said nothing.

"My chassis tolerates the environment."

True.

"My probability of successful traversal is eighty-nine percent."

Better than Victor.

"Damage probability?"

"Forty-one percent."

Arin hated it.

A-01 waited.

Not a machine awaiting orders.

Someone waiting for trust.

Arin stepped aside.

"Go."

A-01 ran.

Lucan looked at Arin.

Said nothing.

Steam engulfed A-01.

His armor temperature climbed.

Three hundred degrees.

Four hundred.

He reached the gate.

Grabbed the manual wheel.

Turned.

Nothing.

"Actuator fused," he said.

Victor shouted:

"Hit it!"

Arin looked at him.

Victor shrugged.

"Engineering."

A-01 punched the actuator.

Once.

Twice.

Third strike—

The housing shattered.

The gate moved.

Ten percent.

Twenty.

Pressure forced against it.

A-01 planted both feet.

His replacement arm transformed into reinforced configuration.

He pulled.

Forty percent.

Sixty.

His arm temperature entered red.

Arin watched.

"Enough. Fall back."

"Negative."

"A-01."

"Gate requires seventy-eight percent minimum."

Seventy.

His shoulder plating warped.

Seventy-five.

The Core screamed.

Seventy-eight.

The gate snapped open.

Pressure exploded through the relief tunnel.

A-01 disappeared in steam.

Arin’s heart stopped.

"A-01!"

No answer.

Then:

"I remain functional."

Arin exhaled.

Lucan smiled.

"He’s learning dramatic timing."

"Not funny."

"Very funny."

The pressure reached the northern valley.

Greyhaven heard it.

A column of steam erupted from the empty basin beyond the mountain.

Hundreds of meters high.

The ground shook.

People screamed.

Then—

Nothing.

No collapse.

No avalanche.

No explosion.

The mountain stopped beating.

Inside the cavern, output fell.

One hundred fifty percent.

One hundred twenty.

One hundred.

Eighty.

Rian stared.

"Cooling stable."

Tavian checked the Core.

"Structural integrity?"

EVE answered.

"Ninety-three percent."

Silence.

Arin looked at the machine.

It was still running.

Not surviving.

Running.

The test timer continued.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Twenty.

The Core maintained output.

Then the notification appeared.

SUSTAINED OUTPUT TEST:

COMPLETE.

LONG-RANGE MANA CORE:

VALIDATED.

Arin smiled.

Then another.

CIVIC EXPLORATION PLATFORM

TITANITE — COMPLETE.

DEEP RESERVE — COMPLETE.

LONG-RANGE MANA CORE — COMPLETE.

NAVIGATION MATRIX — 100%.

ALL PRIMARY REQUIREMENTS SATISFIED.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

Victor finally asked:

"Does that mean what I think?"

Arin opened the blueprint.

It was no longer grey.

CIVIC EXPLORATION PLATFORM

AVAILABLE FOR CONSTRUCTION.

Lucan smiled.

"Bedroom."

Arin looked at him.

"You’re still not getting the largest one."

"We’ll discuss it."

"No."

"Family meeting."

"No."

Then EVE interrupted.

"Secondary issue."

Everyone groaned.

"What?" Arin asked.

She displayed the cavern scan.

The pressure release had exposed more of the crystal formation.

Much more.

Estimated deposit:

Enormous.

Tavian stared.

"Value?"

EVE calculated.

Then gave a number.

Nobody spoke.

Victor sat down.

Lucan blinked.

Rian whispered:

"That’s not real."

It was.

The natural crystal deposit could potentially make Greyhaven one of the wealthiest resource settlements in the region.

Arin immediately said:

"Don’t announce it."

Tavian nodded.

"Agreed."

Victor looked shocked.

"Why?"

Cassian answered through communications.

"Because announcing that a newly restored town contains an enormous high-grade Mana Crystal deposit is how you get every corporation, Hunter company, criminal organization, and political office within a thousand kilometers suddenly becoming interested in Greyhaven."

Victor considered.

"Good point."

Arin looked at the crystals.

Greyhaven had survived monsters.

Now it might have to survive wealth.

Possibly worse.

They returned above ground at dawn.

Cassian waited outside the mine.

So did several miners.

When Arin emerged, Cassian looked toward the mountain.

"Stable?"

"Yes."

"The mine?"

"Stable."

"The Wyverns?"

Arin looked upward.

Still gone.

"For now."

Cassian exhaled.

Then Arin handed him a data tablet.

"Read privately."

Cassian opened it.

His eyes widened.

Then widened more.

He looked at Arin.

"How much?"

"Potentially."

Cassian looked back at the mountain.

"This changes everything."

"Yes."

"Greyhaven won’t be ignored anymore."

"No."

"People will come."

"Yes."

"Companies."

"Yes."

"Government agencies."

"Probably."

"Hunters."

"Definitely."

Cassian closed the tablet.

"Problems."

Arin smiled.

"Many."

Cassian unexpectedly smiled back.

"Good."

Arin raised an eyebrow.

Cassian looked toward Greyhaven.

"For twelve years, nobody wanted this place."

The western lights were still visible.

Smoke rose from chimneys.

The road carried wagons.

People were waking.

"Maybe I’d like to see what happens when everyone does."

The Matriarch returned that afternoon.

Alone.

Greyhaven’s alarms activated.

Arin climbed the western wall.

The enormous Ash Wyvern circled once.

Twice.

Then flew toward the mountain.

No attack.

No roar.

She landed on the nesting plateau.

Stayed motionless.

Then called.

One by one, distant shapes appeared.

Wyverns.

Returning.

The danger had passed.

Lucan joined Arin.

"Think she knew?"

"Yes."

"Think she understands we fixed it?"

Arin considered.

"No idea."

The Matriarch looked toward Greyhaven.

Then dropped something from her claws.

It landed outside the northern wall.

BOOM.

Lucan closed his eyes.

"No."

Arin looked.

A dead monster.

Larger than the stag.

Victor appeared below.

"FREE FOOD!"

Lucan pointed at Arin.

"This is your fault."

"They aren’t friends."

"She brought you another gift."

"Could be territorial disposal."

"She flew directly here."

"Coincidence."

EVE appeared.

"Statistically unlikely."

Arin looked betrayed again.

That evening, Arin finally returned to the outpost.

He hadn’t slept properly in nearly two days.

He sat down.

EVE appeared across from him.

"Rest."

"After one thing."

"No."

"Five minutes."

"You said that yesterday."

Arin opened the Civic Exploration Platform blueprint.

EVE sighed.

The machine filled the projection.

Huge.

Mobile.

Independent.

Designed not for war—

But distance.

Places where roads ended.

Places maps didn’t reach.

Places House Elysium had never seen.

Arin selected:

BEGIN CONSTRUCTION PLANNING.

Estimated completion:

Twenty-six days.

Arin smiled.

Not tomorrow.

Not instantly.

Good.

Something to build properly.

Something worth waiting for.

Then the door opened.

Lucan entered.

"I’ve made a room list."

"No."

"You haven’t seen it."

"No."

"I gave you the largest room."

Arin paused.

"Continue."

Lucan smiled.

"I get the second largest."

"Rejected."

"Too late. Family democracy."

"That’s not democracy."

"Lyra voted."

Arin stared.

"You called Lyra?"

"And Luna."

"She’s five."

"Still family."

"That’s not how voting works."

"Three to one."

Arin opened communications.

Lucan ran.

For the first time in forty-eight hours, Arin chased something that wasn’t trying to destroy Greyhaven.

Somehow—

That felt like progress.

Chapter End