Crystal Core 4: A Litrpg Cultivation Adventure, page 36
Fear suddenly surged through me. I’d been so consumed by my awakened bloodline. Even the light could be deadly, if you let it blind you.
Lindor pointed at something in the air—an angry red tear, no more than three feet high and six inches wide hung a dozen feet off the ground. It wasn’t a proper portal, but perhaps that was what the system meant by a rift.
I’d landed on my knees when I returned to the ground, but quickly jumped to my feet. A quick glance confirmed that Elu was okay, and then I checked to see that Lumi was alright.
Slender pincer type hands, first one, then two, and then three grabbing the edges of the rift, from the inside. I knew what was coming next.
“Get back everyone!” I shouted. “Something’s coming through.”
The rift started to expand as the hands pulled the fabric of the realm apart. Then we all heard the buzzing of rapidly flapping wings. It seemed a swarm of monsters were about to descend upon us.
As the rift widened, I watched in fascination and horror as two triangular creatures emerged, their spindly limbs gripping the edges of reality itself. They were unlike anything I'd ever seen—geometric perfection given life. Their bodies were perfect triangles, smooth and metallic, with a single eye at the apex. The limbs that extended from each corner were long, jointed, and moved with an eerie precision that seemed both mechanical and organic. They possessed a type of symmetry to their forms, which made everything else look just a little bit off.
As they pulled the rift wider, a swarm of circular beings poured through. These were smaller, no more than three feet in height and eighteen inches in diameter, with stubby wings that buzzed at impossible speeds. Their bodies were perfect spheres, a milky white color that seemed to absorb and reflect light in equal measure. A single, unblinking eye dominated the center of each orb, surrounded by a ring of smaller, rapidly moving eyes that darted in all directions.
The circular creatures moved in perfect formation, their wings creating a sound like a thousand tiny gears working in unison. As they spread out, I noticed how they distorted the air around them, as if their very presence warped the fabric of reality.
It didn’t hit me at first, but then I realized what I was seeing. They all projected Neutral Mana. It wasn’t quite like my Null Form, but it was similar. All the mana around them began breaking down.
Despite never having seen these beings before, I instantly knew what they were: modrons. The knowledge came from somewhere deep within me, a part of my heritage I'd never fully understood until now. I felt a connection to them; it was a pull that left me momentarily paralyzed with indecision.
The modrons began to speak, their voices a monotone chorus that sent chills down my spine. “Must sanitize,” they repeated, their words devoid of emotion. “Chaotic imbalance. Too much good.”
Without warning, they launched their attacks. The triangular modrons moved with shocking speed, their limbs stretching to impossible lengths as they lashed out at Agimae and Lindor. The circular ones swarmed around, their tiny bodies becoming deadly projectiles as they hurled themselves at my companions.
Agimae's serpentine form twisted and coiled, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp limbs of a triangular modron. He unleashed a psionic blast, but it broke on the shell of the targeted modron without showing the slightest effect.
Lindor unleashed a bolt of lightning. It ruptured one of the modrons and tore right through it. The creature fell to the ground, but was soon followed by two others that began to make repairs on it without compassion, but the utmost efficiency.
Elu and Lumi, initially untargeted, leaped into the fray. Elu's newly awakened celestial xorn powers manifested as she summoned chunks of crystal from the earth, hurling them at the modrons. Lumi's wings spread wide, a burst of radiant light erupting from her hands to push back the swarm.
One of the triangular modrons said, “Partial modrons detected. Do not engage.”
Elu snapped, “Engage this!” as she swung her heavy warhammer into the pointed top of the creature. Her gravity mana came into play and the attack struck with the weight of a mountain. Triangles were strong, but she drove that pointed tip down into the creature, smashing it against the ground.
Its voice came out partially garbled. “This drone is defective. Contaminated. Sanitize. Attempt to salvage the Hexton.” With that command, a swarm of the circular drones came at Elu, lashing out and forcing her to raise a wall of stone to protect herself.
Another group tried to encircle Lumi and capture her. They reached out with their slender limbs, which doubled as both arms and legs to grab at her, but she twisted and dodged, striking out. None of the modrons struck back, instead limiting themselves to non-lethal attacks.
Meanwhile, Elu and the others were being beaten back. Agimae was faring poorly because his normally powerful psionic attacks couldn’t find any purchase and he was forced to resort to Body Weapon and physical attacks. Elu did a bit better. Her hammer smashed more than one of the drones and pushed the others back. Lindor’s lightning cultivation seemed to be the most effective of all of my companions’ attacks.
But for every modron they struck down, two seemed to take its place. The triangular ones proved especially formidable, their attacks carrying a psionic edge that left my companions reeling. I watched Lindor stumble as his mind was assaulted by an invisible force, though he fended off any physical blows.
As the battle raged on, my friends fought with everything they had. Elu's hair, now strands of living ruby, whipped around her as she grappled with a triangular modron. The two locked in a contest of strength that defied physics.
Lumi darted through the air, her celestial powers creating bursts of light that momentarily disoriented the swarm, but they quickly adapted, their movements always flowing in perfect unity with their fellows.
Agimae, despite his power, was being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The circular modrons latched onto him, their tiny forms pulsing with energy that seemed to drain his strength. Lindor managed to create a barrier of crackling electricity around himself, but I could see it weakening with each impact from the relentless attackers.
Finally, seeing my companions on the verge of being overwhelmed, I snapped out of my paralysis. With a thought, I activated Silver Fire Skin, my body erupting in argent flames. I leapt into the fray, my fist connecting with the nearest circular modron. I was surprised when it made no move to defend itself, shattering under the force of my blow. Equally surprising was the fact that my silver fire had absolutely no effect on the modrons.
As I tore through the swarm, I realized that none of the modrons were willing to raise a hand against me. Some allowed themselves to be destroyed, while others frantically sought to flee my attacks. It was as if they recognized me as something they couldn't—or wouldn't—harm.
“Great one.” Another of the triangular ones said. “Tell us what is wrong.”
I ignored him and pressed my advantage. My movements became a blur as I carved a path through the modrons. My newly awakened celestial powers mixed with my fiendish nature, creating an aura of chaos and order that seemed to confuse and disorient the geometric beings. My axe made short work of any it cut into.
As I fought, a memory—or perhaps an instinct—surfaced. I knew what I had to do. Channeling as much mana as I could into my throat meridian, I called upon the Voice of the Law.
“STOP!”
The word erupted from me. It was not just a sound but a fundamental command that shook the very air. Vibrations rippled outward in visible waves of force that washed over everything in sight. Instantly, every modron froze in place.
The triangular ones stood rigid, their limbs locked in mid-attack. The circular swarm hung motionless in the air, their wings silenced for the first time since their arrival—yet in defiance of physics, they didn’t fall to the ground. I wasn’t certain if that was their doing or the impact of my voice, literally stopping them from falling.
In the sudden silence, I could hear my companions' ragged breathing, could feel their eyes on me as we all tried to process what had just happened. The rift in reality hung open behind the frozen modrons, a jagged tear in the fabric of our world that pulsed with otherworldly energy.
I stepped forward, my voice still resonating with power as I addressed the modrons. “Why have you come here? What is your purpose?”
The silence stretched for a moment before the largest of the triangular modrons responded, its voice a monotone that somehow conveyed both subservience and determination. “We serve the will of Primus as you well know, great one. Balance must be maintained. This realm has become too saturated with chaos. It must be corrected.”
I understood the futility of arguing with these beings. They were, in essence, living algorithms—bound by their programming and the will of their superiors. The voice inside me, the part that reveled in my newfound power, whispered that I should simply command them to return.
It would be so easy to impose my will upon them.
But something held me back. Perhaps it was the memory of my own struggles with free will, or the lessons I'd learned about the dangers of unchecked power. No, my reasoning was much more pragmatic. This Primus was already looking for me. These might just be drones, but what was to say that if I forced them to return to Nirvana, that information about where I was wouldn’t find its way to that divine being?
No, there was nothing for it but to destroy these creatures. A calming voice in the back of my head said, “It is the cycle of life and purpose. All modrons return to the pool in time.”
With that thought, I reacted as rapidly as possible. I was a storm of death crashing through the modrons. My teammates joined me, and in another minute it was over. Fallen modrons lay upon the ground, some of them still twitching but none of them moving to attack.
I quickly stepped towards the rift and laid my hand upon it. Focusing upon my Realms Walker trait, I willed the rift shut. Closing a rift was much easier than closing a portal; it was as though the universe itself wanted the rip in its fabric closed. It sealed up, and while I could still detect a lingering weakness in that spot, there was nothing to be seen with the naked eye.
As I closed the rift, the fallen modrons began to break down, dissipating into the air as streams of light. We all collapsed to the ground, the exhaustion on my companions’ faces.
Unfortunately, I still hadn’t accomplished my original goal. “Got anything left, Lindor?” I asked. “I really need to open this meridian.”
I could see his fatigue and knew he wanted to argue with me, but I also knew he was too proud to admit it. “Yes, Hero. As you wish.”
I was eager to get right to it. I felt Agimae’s, Elu’s, and Lumi’s eyes all upon me, but I wasn’t ready to talk about what had just happened—not yet. Opening this final meridian was as good an excuse as any not to answer their curious gazes.
Chapter 36 - One Last Time
Elu sat down beside me, and I squeezed her hand. “We’ll talk about what just happened… later. I promise. For now, though, why don’t the three of you go back and let me open this meridian with Lindor? It should be fairly simple.”
Lindor snorted. “I know you have accomplished miracles, Hero, but you should not take this so lightly. The spine meridian is most critical to the functioning of your body.”
I nodded. “Right, but I have three advantages.” Elu arched an eyebrow, clearly expecting a full explanation, but I focused on the lightning cultivator. “Let me ask you, Lindor, at what point do most cultivators open their spine meridian?”
Lindor shrugged. “In my clan, at C-rank. Some other clans wait for low B-rank, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“Humor me for a follow-up question… What would you expect the Vitality and Durability scores of those who open their spine meridian to be at?”
Elu answered for him. “Likely between 400 at the lowest and 1000 at the highest.” Her tone told me that she had figured out where I was going with these questions, but still wasn’t happy about it.
I nodded. “Most would likely have those stats in the 6-700 range.”
No one objected, so I continued, “Thanks to all of these upgrades I just experienced, my Vitality is sitting at 2,320 and my Durability is 1,884. Don’t you think that will make opening the meridian easier?”
All three of them had no choice but to nod in acquiescence.
“And that’s only one of my three advantages. The other two should be obvious… the first of which is that my mana concentration and purity are exceptionally good at opening meridians. The final advantage would have come to you, if you’d thought about it. While I’m no neurologist, I had plenty of time in my former life to study the human body—I’m the one who explained to you about the nervous system, after all. Even Lindor admitted that knowledge enhanced his lightning cultivation.”
“You know what?” Lumi said, “I trust you. If you wish me to leave, then I shall.”
“It’s not so much that I want you to go, Lumi, it’s that I want you to return and start wowing people with your changes.” I grinned at her sudden blush. “By the way, have you tried to retract your wings since your race was updated?”
She shook her head and then her forehead crinkled with just the slightest bit of tension before both her wings disappeared, reabsorbing flawlessly back into her body. She squealed in glee and then threw herself at me, kissing me furiously.
After a handful of seconds, she realized what she was doing and leaped back, her fair complexion bright red with embarrassment. She quickly dropped to her knees and bowed—not to me, but to Elu.
“I am so sorry Mistress Yandao. Please forgive my oversight. I was lost in my excitement.”
Elu nodded. “It is perfectly understandable. My husband can have that effect.” Then, she stepped forward and whispered something so low that I couldn’t make it out. Whatever it was, it made both girls giggle.
Elu looked up at me. “Very well, husband. I will trust you to be prudent. If it does not look like whatever you are going to attempt is working, then I expect you to stop.”
I adopted my goofiest grin. “Yes, Ma’am.”
When both girls left, I looked over at Agimae, but he didn’t move.
He raised his head and asked, ‘What? You want me to go? I get how they might be distractions, but I am hardly going to make you suddenly start thinking about eggs.”
“No,” I said with a snort. “It’s not about eggs… I don’t want anything which might affect either of my bloodlines to interfere. And I haven’t forgotten that we still have some talking to do.”
“As you wish, but I really am here for you.”
“If I didn’t believe that,” I admitted, “we’d be having a very different kind of conversation.”
Then he was gone, flying off, but cloaked at the same time. I could still pick him out through our bond, but my eyes couldn’t see a thing. It was an effective technique.
When I sat down in front of Lindor, he shook his head. “The fastest way to do this, since you strip the affinity from my Lightning Mana, will be for me to place my hands on your spine and send jolts of electricity directly into you. I understand better how to target your nervous system, and you should know better how to direct it, but it’s still going to hurt.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else from the Divided Realms. Let’s get started.” I nodded, steeling myself for what was to come. Lindor positioned himself behind me, his hands hovering over my spine. I heard the electricity crackling in the air; it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“Ready?” Lindor asked, his voice tense with concentration.
“Do it,” I replied, taking a deep breath.
The first jolt of electricity hit me like a sledgehammer. It coursed through my spine, setting every nerve ending on fire. I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to cry out. This was different from any pain I'd experienced before; it was more precise, more targeted.
As Lindor sent wave after wave of electricity into my spine, I focused on directing my mana. I visualized my nervous system as a complex network of pathways running throughout my body. The electricity acted like a beacon, illuminating these pathways and guiding my mana where it needed to go.
I sensed my mana swirling around the locked meridian, probing for weaknesses. It was like trying to drill through bedrock with a focused, high-pressure hose. It made for slow, painstaking work that required constant pressure and precision. Such pressure and precision were surprisingly hard to maintain—though maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising, given that there was enough electricity running through my body to light up a small town.
My super human Vitality was just barely keeping ahead of the damage and my Durability was the only thing that allowed him to hit me this hard.
Another shock ripped through me, stronger this time. My back arched involuntarily, my muscles spasming. But with the pain came clarity. I sensed the meridian more clearly, and I could visualize the layers of energy that kept it sealed.
Gritting my teeth, I redoubled my efforts. I pushed my mana harder, compressing that pressure hose into a needle-fine point. Sweat beaded my forehead as I concentrated, pouring every ounce of will I had into breaking through.
The meridian resisted, pushing back against my efforts. It was like trying to force open a door while someone on the other side did their best to hold it shut. But I refused to give up. I'd come too far and endured too much to fail now. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours.
Lindor's voice seemed to come from far away. “It's resisting more than it should. Are you sure you want to continue?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. The pain was almost overwhelming, but I sensed that I was close... so close.
With a final, monumental effort, I gathered up every scrap of mana I could muster. I restrained my thoughts and impulses from both my celestial and fiendish sides to focus purely on my pristine, Neutral Mana. It was perfect for this sort of thing, almost designed specifically for it.
