Suddenly a violet vortex formed in the air. It appeared small compared to the beast's body, but its size was deceptive.
The beast also dismissed the vortex until its maw got close.
Suddenly the beast felt the power of its attack mysteriously diminish. It lost a lot of momentum. Its body was engulfed by a strange force and set back a minimal distance.
But this was already enough for the ship to escape. Tepo tensed his arms, pulling on the joystick. The ship described a beautiful arc, flying almost vertically upwards.
Below, the beast only had confusion in its eyes, not able to comprehend what just happened. It was already certain of success before the strange vortex blocked it.
The massive grey creature questioned its life, even losing the will to move another muscle.
Its heavy body dropped straight down, aiming for the small island.
Boom!
A deafening sound shook the surroundings. The beast landed, its weight directly shattering the small island. Rocks, earth, trees, everything got torn apart and devoured by the unfathomable ocean.
But instantly something unexpected happened. As the island shattered, a tremble ran through the room. It was as if some special space shattered.
The endless shore suddenly shrank, appearing before everyone's eyes, at most a kilometer in diameter. The infinite ocean turned into a large lake. The islands not bigger than some rocks.
The beast now spanned almost the entire lake, with barely any room left to move.
Three ships were pulled close to it, threatened to be shattered by the large body at any time.
But luckily Quordh reacted instantly. His eyes lit up, not caring for the how and why as the longed-for statue suddenly appeared before him.
With single minded focus the young man immediately brought his hand to his head.
Before everyone could understand what had happened, the world abruptly changed.
Startled cries filled the surroundings. The voluntary helpers were surprised as they suddenly returned to the room in the trees.
Scrunching noises came from above them.
"What happened?"
"Someone solved the dungeon?"
"Don't push! Hey!"
"F*ck! Who grabbed my butt just now?! Come out!"
"What's above us?"
"Everyone, calm down!"
The situation was chaotic as the room was too small to hold everyone. Some people were pushed in the corridor, others appeared outside the room, either in other buildings or randomly on the sturdy branches.
The guards tried to calm everyone down, but they were also pushed to the sides with no space to move.
And worst of all. Above the crowd hovered three ships barely fitting in the room, cracking as they rubbed against each other.
Finally, Tepo and his friends reacted. They put away their ships, dropping to the ground and landing amidst the crowd.
The commotion went on for some time until team Blue Hyacinth finally arrived. Tepo scoffed as he realized that these deceiving snakes got placed far away from the artificial core, proving that they were far from solving the dungeon.
"Everyone, please listen."
Tra, the leader of team Blue Hyacinth, spoke up, engulfing the crowd in a gentle pressure. Gradually everyone calmed down, displeasure finding its way onto many faces. The helpers wanted to hear what Tra had to say.
"Thank you. Our church can count itself lucky to have made so many great friends. Without you it would have taken forever to solve the dungeon.
We will always remember you!
Now, if you would please form smaller groups and leave the premise in an orderly manner…"
Incredulous eyes stared at the shameless man. He didn't speak about any rewards, not even interest in finding the person who cleared the dungeon.
Tra simply declared all of them as friends and that was it?!
Among the crowd a few brave warriors wanted to complain. But just as they were about to open their mouth, Tra hastily interrupted them:
"Please leave. Everyone!
The Church of Guiding Nature offers its most sincere thanks."
The crowd was left in disbelief, but as the pressure grew and the guards finally managed to separated themselves from the helpers, no one dared to speak up.
The situation was hopeless as team Blue Hyacinth obviously never considered handing out any compensation.
Thus, the crowd could only keep their anger in their hearts and slowly leave the room.
A few of the church members weren't privy to Tra's plan. They felt some surprise but didn't bother further.
Only Yerive and Droa'va had complex expressions. Shutting their mouths tightly, they thought of the recording metal in their possession, planning to hand it over to a priest soon.
Tepo felt that the scene wasn't unexpected. He didn't want to cause a commotion, hoping that no one cared for him and his dormmates so they could get away with the gathered treasures.
And fortunately, team Blue Hyacinth was only focused on the artificial core.
They urged everyone to leave quickly, without any care.
Thus, the dormmates and the invisible Varei quickly sneaked away, taking a beep breath after leaving the church's territory. They gathered in the private room of a small restaurant.
After the waiter left, Shorey couldn't hold it anymore, letting out a loud laughter:
"Hahaha! This feels great! Those idiots don't even know that we escaped with the biggest treasures!"
The other young men couldn't help but smile as well while Shorey began to scatter precious materials one after another on the floor.
Varei's eyes were bright as he looked at a big rock, veins of shiny red metal decorating its surface.
"Not bad, not bad. This might even be enough to finish our foundations!"
Tepo nodded at Quordh's words, scanning the treasures for anything useful.
"Gaunium, Zeralsis, Hium… Those spells are not too shabby."
"Ok, mates. How should we divide the spoils?
I suggest me and Quordh take thirty percent, with Tepo and Varei taking seventy."
Tepo wasn't modest, agreeing with Shorey's words. Everyone knew that Tepo and Varei did the most work. To be honest, thirty percent were already pretty generous.
Still, Tepo acknowledged that his friends risked their lives as well, thus he made an additional offer:
"I agree with the distribution, but you can have first pick. Take the spells you need to finish your foundation. Its time for the two of you to break through to acolyte or I will overtake you."
Although Tepo spoke with a smile, his dormmates could only shake their heads.
"I don't think it matters, mate. Your speed is too monstrous. You will overtake us sooner or later…"
"Right, cutey, you should also choose the spells you need."
"Don't worry guys. To be honest, none of those are must have-haves for me."
"Hmm? But don't you want to finish your spells as soon as possible?"
"It's alright. I will soon receive a windfall. With that much money I can buy whatever I need."
Suddenly Shorey and Quordh frowned, staring at Tepo:
"I heard about that. What did you think, mate? Agreeing to fight that Gold guy? Do you expect the aristocrats to play fair?"
"It doesn't matter much. If I lose, my time in the forum will come to an end. That's it."
"Aren't you too nonchalant? Don't you want to get into research? Or win tournaments? Spread your fame?
The forum is a great place for all of these!"
Tepo could only shrug his shoulders, taking a sip from the beer before him. With the Web at his back, he didn't feel the same pressure others felt. He was even considering following Quill and Anvil to other worlds.
Without receiving an answer Shorey and Quordh shook their heads and changed the topic.
"Is till don't understand why a team belonging to a strong church would be this desperate for an artificial core…"
"Right. Isn't it common knowledge that artificial cores bear risks?"
"True.", agreed Tepo before explaining. "But for most people the risk is just not important. Immediate benefits are more enticing.
If you can grow with artificial cores, why despise them?"
"I get it. But still, many organizations have actually limited or even banned the usage of artificial cores over the years. It's surprising that the Church of Guiding Nature isn't one of them…"
Quordh, Varei and Tepo could only agree. But everything was just guesswork without any deeper insights.
Thus, the four young men soon left the matter of the dungeon behind and focused on separating the spoils.
Together the students had quite the extensive knowledge, able to identify almost all materials. Thus, Shorey and Quordh could happily take some useful spells before leaving the rest to Tepo and Varei.
No one was dissatisfied as the dormmates left the restaurant.
They went home in a good mood, eager to train diligently.
For the next two weeks Tepo retreated to his room, focused on absorbing forces. With time dilation, Varei, force crystals, and the right environment his speed left others in the dust.
The Force of Time continuously entered his body, delighting his core. It happily worked overtime, constantly compressing the force and preparing for advancement.
As the fight against Corian came closer, Tepo could already feel that it would soon be time to reach the next rank.