Chapter 1203: Digging Down

Red and Blue hit the ground with their hammers, creating deep holes that were kilometers deep. When creating a mine, getting rid of the debris was one of the biggest problems for Mortals.

Kyle used to shoot through the ground like it was made of water, but in the Immortal Dimension, that didn't work anymore. They had to get rid of the debris, but it wasn't that hard.

Red kept digging down while Blue took care of the debris. The debris consisted of a mix of different Elemental Energies. Sadly, it wasn't made of pure Earth Energy. If it were, the debris wouldn't be worthless. This kind of earth was essentially just worthless dirt.

However, there was one use for it. Blue grabbed the debris, transformed it into its components, and infused the walls of the hole with it. The walls became harder, making it more durable. The harder the walls of the hole were, the higher the chance was that the hole wouldn't collapse when the Planet moved.

While hardening the walls, Blue also used some of the debris to create a very simple Formation Array. The Formation Array was exceptionally easy to set up. Even some Secondary Formation Array Masters could create it. The only point of the Formation Array was to measure the forces acting upon the walls of the mine. This could warn them of a cave-in.

'This is so weird,' Kyle thought as he kept digging. 'I feel like I'm a Mortal again. Even the stuff that Theodor has taught me has become relevant again. I don't really need it, though. I know more about mines and earth than Theodor.'

"Is there something we can help with?" Sebastian asked as he watched Kyle digging down.

"Not sure, actually," Red transmitted. "Neither of you have an Earth or Metal Affinity. I don't really want you to dig since you might miss some Earth Energy Fluctuations. You're also not fast enough when it comes to reinforcing the walls."

"I could scout," Sebastian suggested.

"Scout for what?" Abyssal Depths asked with annoyance. "Other teams? If they find you, they might kill you before we get there. If you find them before they find you, what would we have gained? We know where they are, but we won't attack them. Even more, humans are not plants. They move around."

"Hey, I'm just trying to find something to do," Sebastian answered with an annoyed sigh. "I don't like being useless."

Abyssal Depths glanced at Sebastian for a moment.

"My words were chosen carefully, but my tone was needlessly harsh," Abyssal Depths transmitted.

Sebastian's brows rose. "Sure, no big deal," he answered with a bit of confusion.

'Old habits die hard, huh?' Kyle thought with some amusement. 'She's been riding Sebastian for tens of thousands of years, thinking he's a burden. I guess the fact that he managed to fight an Adept Immortal for a while convinced her of the opposite. It's just that she's still used to talking with Sebastian in that tone.'

'Good to see that Sebastian managed to convince her somewhat.'

"Abyssal Depths," Kyle transmitted, "you could enter my Sensing Formation Array and scout ahead. I'm essentially digging blindly since the ground is blocking my Divine Consciousness. If you could sweep the area with your Divine Consciousness, the chances are higher that we might find something valuable."

"Divine Consciousness can't find everything in the Immortal Dimension," she answered.

"I know, but it can find some stuff," Kyle answered. "You can find Immortal Metal and Immortal Earth, for example."

"Fine," Abyssal Depths said as Blue connected the Sensing Formation Array to her.

"And me?" Sebastian asked.

Kyle thought for a moment about what Sebastian could do. "I could create a second Sensing Formation Array near the hole's entrance. While I've already created a Cloaking Formation Array on the entrance, I can't be sure that nobody will find us. I can't keep too many Formation Arrays running at the same time. There's a possibility that a team might manage to sneak into the hole without alerting my Formation Arrays."

"So, I'm like a meerkat scout," Sebastian commented.

Kyle imagined Sebastian poking his head out of the hole and looking around like a meerkat, chuckling a bit. "Yeah, basically. Very important job."

"Sure, leave it to me!" Sebastian answered with confidence.

Blue and Sebastian went to the surface. Blue created a couple of Formation Arrays and connected them to Sebastian's Energy storage.

In the end, Sebastian sat down near the edge of the hole and swept through the surroundings with his Divine Consciousness.

Meanwhile, Abyssal Depths and Kyle kept digging. With every strike, ten kilometers of ground were destroyed. Getting rid of the debris took about 50 times longer than digging the actual hole, but the progress was still quite fast.

Yet, the deeper they got, the harder it became to progress. The ground was becoming denser, and the walls needed even more Energy to be fortified.

When they reached a depth of around 50,000 kilometers, Kyle sensed a tremor around them. The walls were vibrating ever so slightly.

"I guess that's normal, right?" Kyle asked.

"Yes," Abyssal Depths answered. "The deeper we go, the more the Planet moves. The pressure of the Gravity Core has a distorting effect on the Elemental Energies comprising the surrounding matter. Their density increases, and at some point, the Elementals regain their identity. Metal moves to other metal. Earth moves to other earth. While Dirt Planets are seen as mostly worthless, they're still worth something when you approach their Gravity Core."

"Judging by the size of this Planet, the area around its Gravity Core is probably filled with all eight of the Immortal Elements, and they're constantly fighting each other. These battles influence the Energies around them, changing the composition of the materials around them. It's even possible that there are some Sentient Elements around the Gravity Core."

"In short, there are valuables in this Planet, right?" Kyle asked.

"If we manage to get to them, yes," Abyssal Depths answered. "However, if we actually manage to reach the core of this Planet, we're essentially contesting the treasures the powerful Excursion Teams are after. We shouldn't dig to the Planet's core. Although we might not even have a choice. If everyone could dig towards the core of such a big Planet, not many teams would actively hunt other teams."

"What's stopping teams from reaching the core?" Kyle asked.

"An ever-increasing chance of death," Abyssal Depths explained. "The lower we go, the more the Planet moves. If it moves during an unlucky moment, we might experience a cave-in. Additionally, the raging Elements might notice you and attack you."

"You mean the Immortal Elements?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, but also the Major Elements," Abyssal Depths answered. "Under so much pressure, even the Major Elements can reach a level of Energy Density that they have the power to kill an Immortal. If we're not careful, a fast and dense stream of Major Fire could break through the walls and kill us within an instant. It's not a problem yet since we're not very deep, but the deeper we get, the more of a problem it becomes."

"Even Major Elements can become this powerful," Kyle commented. "I hadn't actually considered that."

"How so?" Abyssal Depths asked. "You must've seen a Natural Law Well for one of the Major Elements by now. These things can even kill Major Ascendants if they're not careful."

"Wait, what?" Kyle asked.

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