"Well, you look like you've got your hands full. I'll see myself out. Non-interference rules and all that. Plus, it's no fun squishing a dying race with all my power. Should be an interesting challenge for you though. Here, I'll even give you a quest so you can have some guidance. That shouldn't violate the rules. Alright, have fun!"
With a pop, the Administrator seemed to have been sucked into an imperceptible hole like draining water. The ring of a notification rang out a second later as the message read aloud.
"Quest given. Name: Survive the Harvesters. Description: A dying race has begun the process of strip mining the world. Ensure your survival by either protecting the planet or finding a method to safely leave. Reward: 500 system points."
Now that the System had given out the quest, having a choice for what to do surprised Blake. There was obviously the "good guy" and "bad guy" choices. Fighting off the invaders would net a lot of reward with great risk, but simply leaving would be the safest option. There could be no gray zone for what to do. Even with these two choices, for Blake, driving off the invaders was the only option. Even if they flung themselves into space and napped until they landed on another planet with magic, how many billions of years would pass? No, this world would be the cornerstone for Blake's foundation. Any thieves that come by to steal would be thrown out!
"I may just be a stone, but even a falling pebble can cause an avalanche!
…
So how do I become an avalanche to beat these guys?"
Despite the bold declaration, there were no hints on how to defeat the ship floating in the horizon. Within the Magic Vision, the beautiful canvas of colors was being sucking towards the Harvester ship. It was akin to a black hole with the ship only visible by the outline of the vanishing elements. For now, small bits of sand and droplets of water also lazily floated towards the foreign object. As they grew closer, the increase in speed made it seem like they would crash into the sides as a last act of resistance. This would all be for naught since the material would be redirected into one of the ends of the symmetrical ship. Now that the spaceship had a constant stream of elements and matter being absorbed, an obvious pattern emerged. Blake was reminded of magnetic poles and iron filaments as they gazed upon the phenomenon. Any and all rouge particles were gathered and brought into the ship's ends.
Curious to test out the strength of the magnetic force Blake grabbed various sized rocks and water balls then chucked them at the ship. With the skills they had trained, it was a simple matter for Blake to gently nudge the attack towards the middle of the ship. Thinking that this was the weakest place in the field turned out to be correct. The volley of earth and water landed on the ship with a metallic clang. Slowly, it began creep towards either end. Before any of the projectiles made it towards an end the ship's exterior rippled. Much like a stone in a lake, the small wave carried the inert material into either end. Disappearing over the lip, Blake's first experiment vanished from the world.
Seeing all this happen, Blake decided to push their luck. Grabbing several other clumps of random stuff, this volley was also thrown towards the ship. Yet instead of simply letting the probing attack roll off the ships back, Blake applied their skills to force the muck to stay in place. As the ripples came back across the ship, they grew stronger and stronger until Blake released the elemental skills. Like a surfboard flying out from under its rider, the waves launched the second experiment into the air where it quickly met the fate of the first attack. Finally, Blake launched a single stone that was the same size and shape as themselves to the flying tapered cylinder. Instead of letting it hit the surface of the ship, Blake kept it floating above the surface. Nothing happened. The force of the pseudo-magnetic field couldn't pull in the rock nor did the surface of the ship ripple like it had previously. Satisfied, Blake chucked the rock in a random direction and muttered their assumptions.
"Seems like it doesn't have too many offensive capabilities. If anything, it almost feels like a drone on autopilot. If these are intelligent lifeforms, I reckon that they wouldn't waste manpower on pilots for every single one of these ships. Especially for a group that the Administrator called a dying race. I guess it's safe to approach then."
Lifting themselves into the sir, Blake left the pavilion. Once they had put a bit of distance behind them, it was easy to see that the Mana Geyser was emitting a much smaller stream than before. Had the Harvesters not arrived, perhaps Blake could have gotten a few more millennia out of it before moving onto the next one. Now though, the stream of particles was sputtering in the face of the strong pulling force of the ships. Perhaps the world itself knew what was going on and was going on the defensive. Or maybe the presence of the flying vessels managed to tap out what little remained in the geyser like a super-charged oil rig. Either way, the place that was once Blake's hope for change was disappearing.
Riding the waves of the attractive force towards the Harvester ship Blake soon arrived at the hulking monstrosity. Easily the size of a football stadium, the ship was about 95 meters long (311 feet) and 20 meters (65 feet) thick at the middle that tapered into 15 meter (50 foot) holes. Being this close to the suction field felt similar to being in a Mana Geyser, albeit a much weaker one. Magic Vision wasn't all that helpful either. What once was Blake's strongest perception skill that clearly defined the world was closer to a chaotic storm of glittering snow. If the ship wasn't outlined by all the particles, Blake could have easily gotten lost in the maelstrom of captured elemental particles. Each concentrated wave of elements felt like they were going to crash into a wall. Of course, there was no physical impact the closer they got. The sheer density in the Magic Vision between each band of ensnared colors simply felt like it. Once they reached the ship, Blake was oddly grateful. The black void of the ship outlined by a thin layer of pigmented specks was significantly less chaotic than the journey over. At the ends of the ship an accretion disk of azure, tan, and other colors swirled into the holes.
Making sure to float above the hull, Blake poked around with Telekinesis for some type of entrance. The surface of the ship looked like it was segmented into equilateral triangles. Barely a centimeter long an any side, the artificial scales of the Harvester ship had no obvious entrances. Not to be deterred, the incredible dexterity of Telekinesis grabbed at the points of a single scale and pulled. This elicited a violent response from the ship. Instantly, massive waves of the hull surrounded Blake from all sides. The walls of unknown metal came towards Blake until it was directly below them. A black spike shot out where they were floating, missing by millimeters as it was dodged.
Going over the walls but remaining close enough to prevent going through the blinding band above, Blake's large Magic Vision area finally revealed a clue. On the underside of the ship was a spot of undisturbed hull that wasn't rippling like the rest of the surface. Rocketing around the Harvester vessel, Blake soon was in front of the strange spot. Instead of triangles, this spot was a single flat circle with five small grooves in it. Barely half a meter in diameter, the small spot had two more buttons inside of each groove. Whatever this species was, it clearly had more than a pair of hands if this place was to be opened by unscrewing the cover.
"Must be some sort of maintenance entrance. Let see if I can just grab here and twist."
Thinking out loud while wielding Telekinesis like fingers, Blake pushed down each of the buttons in the grooves, then tried to remove the cover. Twisting, pulling, and pushing the shield for the hole, eventually something made an audible ping before the hull came out. Inside was a small compartment before another door was present. The thick and imposing door didn't seem like it could simply be ripped off like the previous one. Thankfully, a small window was set inside the door. Coalescing the elements that were still present, Blake froze and unfroze the seal of the window while simultaneously heating the edges of the pane of crystal itself. After a few minutes, a shattering sound echoed out. As well as a bust of high-pressure water! The torrent of liquid almost washed Blake out of the sky. Quickly taking control of the stream they jumped into the ship and froze the window, sealing it once again.
Not wanting to trip an emergency self-detonation protocol, Blake resigned themselves to having to awkwardly sit in a chamber filled with water. A single corridor stretched before them. Lights consisting of all sorts of colors dotted the walls. Towards the middle of the ship was a large ball suspended in the air. Quickly flashing different colors, the sphere was like looking into a kaleidoscope as the elements vanished into their corresponding sections. For the time being, hues of blue dominated the orb with spots of brown, then green, then everything else. Cautiously, Blake pushed out all of their perceptive skills. Soul Speak, Magic Vision, and Telekinesis coated the corridor and the massive space beyond where the continuous stealing of the world's magic. Covering one end of the ship, Blake felt a consciousness touch Soul Speak. Connecting to it out of curiosity, a burbling scream echoed in their mind.
"HELP!"