Chapter 56 — The Crystalback

Chapter 56: Chapter 56 — The Crystalback

Chapter 56 — The Crystalback

The first Iron war golem required six low-grade crystals.

Edwin stared at the figure standing inside the defense chamber, broader than the maintenance golems and covered in overlapping iron plates, one arm ending in a heavy shield, the other holding a blade built into its wrist.

"Six?" he asked.

The tower spirit hovered above the book. "For core ignition and independent reserve. Continued operation may draw from tower network."

"How long will the reserve last?"

"Thirty-one hours of continuous combat movement. Longer in guard state."

Captain Taron walked around the golem without crossing the painted line on the floor. "Wake one."

Edwin had intended to activate four, but the cost changed his mind.

They placed six crystals into the sockets behind the golem’s chest plate, and the spirit directed the sequence as blue light travelled across old formation lines, then entered the iron body.

Its head rose, and the movement made every mercenary reach for a weapon.

"Iron Unit Seventeen," the spirit said. "Command recognition."

The golem turned toward Edwin and lowered one knee, behaving like an obedient construct as it waited for orders.

"Guard the control chamber," Edwin said. "Do not attack registered people unless they attack another registered person or attempt to damage tower systems."

The spirit repeated the order in older words. The golem rose and walked to the chamber entrance, each step sounding like a hammer striking stone.

Taron tested it before trusting it on guard duty. He rolled a wooden practice ball across the painted boundary; the golem ignored it. A veteran approached with permission and touched the wall. Nothing happened. But when Taron raised his sword and struck a marked practice shield beside the control door, the golem turned, placed itself between him and Edwin and raised its own shield. It held its position without attacking, because Taron remained registered and had not targeted a person or tower system.

"Fast enough," Taron said.

"Faster with full formation support," the spirit replied.

Edwin scanned the empty spaces where other units waited. Two hundred Iron golems and eight Adamantine guardians existed in the tower’s old inventory, and waking just one had cost six crystals. The numbers were strength and expense at the same time.

"Bronze rank?" Taron asked.

"Comparable under normal power," the spirit replied. "Performance depends on formation support and damage."

Unit Seventeen had lost part of its left shoulder plate, though the internal frame remained sound; a maintenance golem began repairing it with salvaged metal.

Edwin kept only the one unit active. The remaining crystals powered the mine route, structural inspection and basic defenses. Two mining golems had already awakened in a lower service room, shorter than the war unit, with four heavy arms, broad feet and tool mounts along their backs.

He inspected the golems’ tool heads and rejected two settings as too violent for exposed crystal. The spirit adjusted their striking force, and one tool was replaced with a narrower cutter from the maintenance stores.

Edwin paid attention, because Taron’s experience still mattered inside an ancient tower.

The former miner accompanied Edwin to the control pedestal, and together with the spirit, they set restrictions: only mature exposed clusters, no cutting marked growth points, no entering unsupported side tunnels, stop at any movement in the rock, return after each load for inspection.

"They will follow that?" the miner asked.

"Exactly," the spirit said.

"Even if the roof falls?"

"Movement restriction overrides extraction."

The first mining party consisted of two mining golems, one maintenance golem, Taron, Nessa, the former miner and two fighters. Edwin remained at the tower because the spirit needed him near the control system while testing the remote link, and he disliked remaining behind.

The book allowed him to see fragments of the expedition without smelling the mine air or hearing what moved beyond the projection. If the link failed, Taron would make decisions without him. That was why Edwin had hired him. Command did not require Edwin to stand closest to every danger. Accepting that felt strangely similar to teaching apprentices: he had to prepare them, give clear limits and allow them to act outside his hands.

Blue points showed the golems moving along the old road. The spirit could see through their basic sensors but displayed only rough shapes, and Edwin watched grass, broken posts and the mine entrance appear as pale outlines above the pedestal.

For the first hour, nothing went wrong. The mining golems entered the exposed chamber and began cutting, working more precisely than Edwin expected: one stabilized the stone while the other removed a mature cluster. The maintenance unit checked supports and replaced a rotted brace with a temporary metal post carried from the tower.

Production increased immediately. By midday, they had filled one reinforced crate with low-grade crystals.

Taron ordered a halt for inspection. The former miner checked the wall and confirmed that the growth points remained intact.

"Better than people," he admitted.

The second load began. That was when the six-footed tracks reappeared.

Nessa found them crossing the main tunnel behind the party, fresh stone dust filling the prints. Something had moved from the flooded side passage toward the deeper chambers while the golems worked.

Taron ordered everyone together. The mining units stopped cutting and turned their tool arms toward the tunnel, strong but not designed for combat.

Edwin watched through the spirit’s projection.

"Can Unit Seventeen reach them?" he asked.

"Travel time: one hour and forty minutes."

"Can you transfer more power to the mining units?"

"Yes. Combat routines limited."

"Do it."

The golems’ outlines brightened.

A scraping sound moved through the mine, slow and heavy, coming from beyond the flooded passage. The spirit could not identify it from sound alone.

Taron withdrew toward the entrance rather than waiting. The party reached open air without being attacked; the golems followed, carrying the first crate and abandoning the second.

Something roared inside the hill. Blue light flashed through the mine entrance. One of the deeper crystals had shattered or discharged.

The tower spirit’s image flickered.

"Mana consumption detected," it said.

"The creature is eating the vein?" Edwin asked.

"That’s the probable explanation."

The mine had regenerated despite it, but a creature feeding on crystals could damage the richest chambers or follow the golems toward the tower.

Taron returned before nightfall with the first load. Nobody was injured; the mining golems carried scratches across their outer plates from moving through the tunnel, not combat.

Nessa drew the six-footed tracks. Each print was longer than her hand.

The spirit searched old mine records and produced a partial match: a Crystalback Lizard, six-legged, drawn toward concentrated Mana. The final records listed smaller specimens as mine pests.

"Rank?" Taron asked.

"Unknown. Size exceeds recorded pest range."

Edwin allocated crystals to awaken three more Iron war golems. The cost hurt. Eighteen low-grade crystals disappeared into their cores, consuming most of the day’s extraction before it could repair the tower.

Four Bronze-equivalent constructs would accompany Taron’s people back to the mine; the mining golems would remain outside until the threat was removed.

Unit Seventeen remained at the tower entrance until departure. The other three woke one by one: one carried a tower shield and hammer, two bore built-in blades. All showed some damage, but maintenance golems confirmed their cores and limbs could function.

Edwin left the Adamantine guardian dormant. The tower’s sealed emergency reserve held enough high-grade power to activate one, and the spirit had already identified a guardian whose core remained sound — that was their final defense if something powerful reached the tower. Using it against one Rank Three mine beast would guarantee the kill, but an Earth-rank construct fighting inside narrow tunnels could bring half the mine down with it. Edwin would not spend their strongest reserve or risk the crystal vein when four Iron units and the old isolation gates were enough.

The Iron squad was enough for a Rank Three mine beast, if Taron used the gates properly.

"Can we lure it?" Edwin asked.

The spirit recommended using a charged crystal inside the old loading chamber. The mine plans showed two heavy gates and a stone barrier designed to isolate accidents.

Taron approved the idea, and they spent the evening preparing rather than charging into the tunnels.

Edwin would return to Alvion in two days for his faculty duties; he could not remain for a long hunt. The battle would happen tomorrow, at dawn.

Edwin wrote a short note for his mother before sleeping. It said his field research had taken longer than expected and that he would return before his next assigned class. He kept the mine, the golems and the monster out of it.

The lie was becoming larger. Securing the tower was the only way to make the danger behind it smaller.

The Crystalback could be killed. If the trap went wrong, they would withdraw and send the Adamantine guardian to finish it in open ground. The real question was how much of the tower’s limited power and irreplaceable machinery the victory would cost. If the plan worked, the tower would gain a steady source of power without spending the reserve meant to protect everything else.

The charged crystal waited inside the loading chamber. Edwin had placed it on a stone block between two old mine gates. Its light was brighter than necessary — the tower spirit increased its output through a narrow conduit, sending Mana into the tunnel like the scent of meat.

Four Iron war golems stood behind the inner gate.

The spirit restored only the controls required for the trap: one lever dropped the outer gate, another raised the inner barrier, a third activated the force wall. Everything else remained dark.

Taron made each person repeat the withdrawal route. If the gates failed, the Iron units would hold the creature while the people escaped. No one was expected to protect a golem at the cost of a life.

Captain Taron and the two Black Iron fighters waited on the raised handling platform. Nessa and the veterans held the retreat passage with bows, ropes and oil. Edwin remained beside the control post where the tower spirit could activate the gates. The mining golems stayed outside.

"If it does not come?" Taron asked.

"We close the mine and try again after learning more," Edwin said.

Everyone preferred caution to following it into the deep tunnels.

The first scraping sound came after an hour. Stone shifted beyond the flooded passage; blue light flashed, vanished and appeared closer.

The Crystalback Lizard entered the main tunnel.

It was longer than a wagon and low to the ground. Six thick legs carried a body covered in translucent plates, Mana shining inside them in uneven colors, gathered from crystals it had consumed. Its head ended in a blunt wedge built for breaking stone.

The spirit assessed it through the control post.

"Estimated Rank Three."

Silver level. Taron was Bronze. The Iron golems were Bronze equivalents. None could fight it alone.

The creature ignored the people and followed the charged crystal. Its plates scraped both walls, several carrying old cracks filled with new growth — evidence that it had fed and healed inside the vein for years. Its six legs moved with surprising speed.

Edwin felt its presence through the control line as a steady drain. The creature absorbed loose Mana around it; spells delivered too slowly would weaken before reaching its body.

It entered the loading chamber.

Edwin waited until all six legs crossed the first gate line.

"Drop the gate now."

The outer gate fell. The Crystalback turned and struck it with its head. Ancient metal bent but held.

The inner gate opened. Four Iron golems advanced together.

Two raised shields; two drove built-in blades toward the creature’s front legs. The Crystalback smashed one shield aside and threw the golem into the wall, iron plate buckling across its chest. The other three maintained formation.

Taron attacked from the platform, driving Bronze Aura into the gap between two crystal plates. His spear point entered less than an inch.

The creature twisted toward him.

Edwin activated the side barrier. A wall of pale force struck the Crystalback’s head and forced it down; the formation consumed Mana fast enough to dim the control post.

"Seven seconds," the spirit warned.

The golems used them. One pinned the creature’s left foreleg with its shield. Another cut repeatedly into the same joint. The third climbed onto its back and drove an iron blade between crystal plates.

The barrier failed.

The Crystalback surged upright. The golem on its back struck the ceiling and fell beneath its rear legs; crystal claws tore open the construct’s side.

Nessa’s arrows shattered against the plates. She changed targets and shot into one eye.

The arrow entered.

The beast roared and struck blindly at the platform. Taron dragged Edwin back before a claw swept through the control post. Stone exploded, and the book flew from Edwin’s hands.

The tower spirit’s projection vanished.

Edwin still held the formation through his First Circle. He could sense the damaged control line but not command it precisely.

Wind gathered around his arm. He did not attack the crystal armor — he drove air and dust into the creature’s wounded eye.

The Crystalback turned toward him. That exposed the cut joint.

Taron leapt from the platform and struck with his full Bronze strength. His spear entered the damaged leg, and the nearest Iron golem brought its shield edge down on the shaft, driving it deeper.

The foreleg collapsed. The creature fell against the inner gate frame.

The two functioning golems attacked the same gap along its neck. Iron blades broke one crystal plate, then another. The wounded golem dragged itself forward and locked both arms around the beast’s rear leg.

Edwin recovered the book. The spirit reappeared.

"Barrier available for three seconds."

"Use it."

Pale force crushed the Crystalback against the floor. Taron drove his spear beneath its jaw. The golems struck together.

The beast stopped moving.

Nobody approached for several minutes. Nessa shot a second arrow into its ruined eye. It did not react.

The battle had lasted less than a minute.

One Iron golem could no longer stand. Another had lost its shield arm. The other two carried deep cuts. Taron’s spear was bent, Edwin’s control post was broken, and the barrier had consumed nearly four low-grade crystals.

No person had died. Taron had a cut along one cheek from flying stone, and a veteran’s shoulder was bruised when the platform shook. The company’s most experienced field hand cleaned both injuries and found no broken bone.

Edwin’s hands shook afterward. He hid them by holding the book until the trembling passed.

The tower had turned a fight that should have killed them into damaged equipment and shallow wounds, though it had also consumed more crystals in a minute than their first manual expedition extracted. The result was decisive without being cheap.

Maintenance golems arrived from the entrance after the spirit confirmed the tunnel safe, and they braced the damaged gate and began recovering the war units.

The Crystalback’s body contained valuable material. Its plates held stored Mana, and a core the size of two fists rested beneath its chest. The spirit identified the material as useful for armor, formations and crystal-processing tools.

The former miner objected when a golem tried to cut the corpse beside the vein, since crystal fragments and blood could contaminate the working area. They wrapped the body in chain and dragged it onto the loading platform.

Edwin ordered the corpse moved to the tower rather than butchered inside the mine, keeping the materials in storage until he and the spirit understood them.

"The mine first," he told the spirit.

The mining golems inspected the extraction chamber. The creature had eaten several mature clusters and damaged a deeper wall, exposing a richer vein. Edwin refused to begin cutting it until supports and defensive gates were restored.

They established a permanent Iron-golem guard at the entrance. Two mining units resumed work in the safe chamber, and the former miner supervised their limits. By evening, the first regular load travelled toward the tower.

The spirit assigned one maintenance golem to the mine permanently; it checked supports, counted harvested clusters and recorded changes in the vein. The former miner retained authority to stop extraction if he judged a chamber unsafe.

Edwin made the rule explicit after the spirit asked whose order held priority: production would never override a human safety halt unless collapse made immediate movement necessary. Ancient machines could work without exhaustion. Edwin’s living companions still needed food and rest.

Edwin stood beside the road watching golems carry crates through silver grass. The tower had turned a creature capable of killing him in one strike into a manageable threat. Gates, barriers, iron soldiers and a prepared company had won together. That was the Mage path the Ancient Mages had trusted.

Taron proposed two guarded extraction days followed by one inspection day. The company would repair the main supports and isolation gates before entering the deeper chambers. Edwin approved.

He also ordered the promised hazard bonus paid to everyone who had entered the mine. The tower had supplied most of the strength, but Taron’s people had still stood within reach of the Crystalback, and their families would not be asked to accept that risk for ordinary escort wages.

Damaged Iron units returned to the tower for maintenance rather than being discarded. Repairing ancient bodies cost metal and time, but replacing their cores might be impossible. It taught him what preparation cost.

The following morning, Edwin left for Alvion with Nessa and one veteran as escorts. Taron remained with the tower, mining crews and damaged golems.

Edwin carried only one small Crystalback plate into the city — wrapped and unmarked, for private study.

At the academy gate, he looked like a tired First Circle Mage returning from field research.

His mother met him at the apartment door and noticed the stone dust ground into his sleeves.

"Historical roads?" she asked.

"There was more stone than expected."

She suspected the answer left something out. Edwin kissed his sister’s head and promised himself the truth would wait only until the tower could protect them.