Ezra POV
I tried to hide my rage as much as possible while eating with Cyrus, but all I could think about was the altercation in the woods. If I hadn't been there with him, I don't think I would have ever seen my son alive again. It drove home the reality of the danger we're facing. This downtime was nice, but we couldn't afford to let our guard down anymore—especially with that organization aware we're in this region. I had a feeling word would get out after that little scuffle.
I needed to find out where Adam hired those men from and where he purchased the batteries. By midday, I arrived at the astral gate. There was no one guarding the entrance, but it didn't matter—I had full access anyway. Once inside the astral realm, I didn't pay attention to anything else and made a beeline straight for the caves. When I arrived, something felt off. The energy among the workers wasn't as lively as usual. A few men kept their heads down and avoided making eye contact.
At first, I thought maybe it was my unsettled emotions unintentionally emitting aggressive intent through fluctuations of my cosmic energy. I quickly centered myself and realized that wasn't the issue. When I asked several workers if they'd seen Adam today, they all gave me the same answer: no. None of the miners had seen him all day, which was strange. From what I know, Adam is usually a very hands-on boss.
I decided to go deeper into the celestium caves in search of answers. The further I went, the more troubling the signs became—though not directly related to Adam. Many of the miners showed clear signs of distress—not from physical exertion, but internal illness. The whites of their eyes had turned yellow, their skin discolored and bruised. Some were coughing up blood, and their cosmic energy signatures were faint and unstable.
It looked as though they'd been poisoned. I replayed the past few days in my head, wondering how I hadn't noticed this earlier. I knew for a fact that the miners hadn't shown these symptoms until now. Frantically, I began questioning them about their condition.
"There's never been a report of starbound being poisoned from mining celestium," I thought. "This has to be something else."
One of the miners explained that this kind of thing happens from time to time while working the mines. Adam had told them it was due to prolonged exposure to the astral realm through the astral gate and overexertion. This was a lie. Why would Adam lie about something so serious?
Another miner added, "Whenever this happens, Adam heals us with his constellation powers and tells us to rest before going back to work. We've got deadlines to meet, so we don't mind enduring it if it gets us back into the mines faster. But this time feels a lot worse than the others."
The older man's words confirmed my suspicions: they were suffering from some kind of deteriorating poison.
"Can you all think back and try to remember when this first started?" I pleaded.
"If I'm not mistaken, it was shortly after we got the new equipment and batteries to mine the celestium," one of them said.
The words struck me like a thunderbolt. A memory I'd long buried surfaced—wild animals near my testing facility showing harsh, abnormal side effects. At the time, I hadn't connected the dots, but now it was clear. The prototype cosmic batteries I created emitted radiation poison due to raw cosmic energy decay.
"I need to find Adam now," I muttered under my breath.
"Is everything okay, sir?" one miner asked.
"No, it's not. Everyone needs to leave this mine and get back to the physical world immediately!" I commanded, my cosmic intent unintentionally leaking. The miners didn't hesitate, even as they struggled to move quickly.
Unable to wait, I dashed to the last place I thought Adam might be—his office.
When I arrived, I brushed past his secretary, ignoring her protests. I didn't care that Adam was in a meeting; this couldn't wait. I burst into the room, shaking her off as she tried to stop me.
"Ezra, what's the matter?" Adam asked calmly. "This isn't like you. What could possibly have you this upset?"
"You've been lying to my face, Adam."
"Lying about what? I have nothing to hide," he replied, his tone cool. "But while you're here, care to explain why the guild I hired to handle the rift called to say one of their men was burned by an unknown assailant?"
"That man attacked Cyrus and tried to kill him! What would you have done, Adam? He was a full stage above Cyrus. If I hadn't intervened, I'd have another dead family member's blood on my hands. So yes, I scorched him. But I didn't kill him."
Adam grimaced. "I understand your situation, but your actions have jeopardized my operation. Those men were from the Twilight Obsidian Guild—the strongest guild in Valador. They've been on the rise these past few years."
"What are you trying to say, Adam?"
"They're our biggest customers, Ezra. We sell most of our celestium to them, and in return, they keep our discovery of the new bedrock secret while offering us discounts on hunters. You've put everyone at risk by seeking justice for your son."
"Then you should choose better allies," I snapped. "And I fear their influence has rubbed off on you. When I went to the mines today, I saw your workers dying of radiation poisoning from the decay of raw cosmic energy batteries. You knew this was happening and lied to them. Did you think healing their physical injuries with your fate constellation would solve the issue? Or were you just trying to mask the problem? The radiation decay doesn't just affect the body, it affects one's celestial core as well. Their celestial cores are being corrupted, and there are only two ways this will end."
Adam's expression shifted from anger to despair. "When I reached out to the guild in Arthenos that sold the batteries, I expressed my concern about the symptoms I saw. They reassured me that there would be nothing to worry about and that it would pass. But the symptoms kept coming back and they got worse each time. I couldn't stop production; our town needed the money, and the workers understood what was at hand. So, I pushed it to the side, what will happen to them?"
"Their cores will either crack, causing their energy to spill into their bodies and kill them, or the corruption will transform them into astral behemoths."
"Is there a way to stop it?"
"Yes, but no one will like it," I said grimly.
Adam slumped in his chair. "Then it has to be done. Their blood is on my hands. I'll inform them myself."
I watched in silence as he left, tears streaming down his face, heading toward the astral gate.