Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 129 – Floor 11: Part 13

They traveled silently though the tunnel, the passageway alternating between pitch black darkness and bright crimson light as the Heart of the Nest pulsed and sent corrupted Mana throughout the area. Ever since the passage behind them collapsed, the pair hadn’t heard anything from either the Anti-Life or the other humans who had adventured into its depths.

After what felt like hours of slowly crawling forward through the tight confines of the tunnel, Mathew and Allen came to a large chamber. Finally, they could stretch upright and work out the aches and pains that had accumulated in their muscles from maintaining their hunched postures.

The chamber was hundreds of feet wide in each direction, with a ceiling that extended so high that the pair couldn’t see the top through the darkness. The crimson light made veinlike patterns on the walls, pulsating energy swirled and merged with the rock around them.

The smell of spice was stronger here and Mathew pulled the scarf around his neck up high enough to block his mouth and nose in an attempt to block some of the scent.

Allen removed his heavy pack and placed it on the ground near the wall as he fell back against it to rest. The corrupted mana of the Nest had more of an effect on them than just blocking their access to their inventory or preventing them from regaining their lost reserves of mana.

Both of their Body stats were well beyond the normal limits of a human being. Allen should have been able to run at full speed for hours without becoming tired, at a velocity that would put Olympic athletes to shame. But here in the Nest, he was winded after only an hour of walking slowly.

It was a worrying change and both of them feared what would happen if they were forced into prolonged combat against the Anti-Life in this place. Luckily, they hadn’t spotted any of the creatures for quite a while.

“Do you think we’re close to the camp?” Allen asked, not really expecting Mathew to know but more of just needing an excuse to talk. The Nest was unnerving, and Mathew hadn’t been much for conversation during their travels.

“Maybe, it’s hard to tell with how the tunnel kept curving.” Mathew replied as he stood and looked around the chamber. Allen watched the other man carefully, noticing that Mathew didn’t seem to be out of breath or tired at all.

Was it a Blessing that gave him his endurance? Or was there such a large difference between them? The ‘Buzz’ didn’t activate at all, telling Allen that Mathew was of a similar level to himself. But he had learned that different Disciplines gave different stats, and some of the rarer ones were miles ahead of the more common offerings.

Allen was a ‘Sharpshooter,’ having upgraded from ‘Gunner’ to ‘Minuteman’ during his journey through the Tower. Each was of the ‘Common’ rarity and provided only the most basic stat boosts. Although he had been through danger plenty of times in the Tower, he had thankfully always been somewhat removed from the monster he fought. There was an advantage to fighting at a distance, and once he had enough Aether to purchase adequate equipment, he hadn’t worried as much.

But in these tunnels, where the Anti-Life could burst through a wall and tear him apart, he was terrified.

“But I don’t think we’re close to the camp. The Aether is too thick here to be on the outskirts of the Nest. If I had to guess, I would think we’re getting closer to the Heart.” Mathew observed with his eyes locked onto several of the openings in the chamber that led to new tunnels.

Allen frowned at the remark and shook his head.

“Then we need to pick a path that leads back. There’s only the two of us, if we meet the Anti-Life we won’t stand a chance.” Allen stated, and Mathew turned to look at the man.

“I doubt we have a choice. Unless you have a way of picking the right tunnel, I would say we’re going to have to leave it up to fate and the whims of the gods.” Mathew said as he turned away.

“Are you ready?” Mathew asked as he walked forward. There were two passages that attracted his attention the most. Both had veins of crimson mana emerging from them and had the strongest smell of Aether.

He was committed now, with little chance that he would be able to return to the camp. It was better to use the opportunity where the Anti-Life were distracted with all the incursions from the Players to strike at the heart.

Mathew had already come this far; he may as well go all the way.

“Wait, we could just stay here and-” Allen was cut off as Mathew entered the closest tunnel and was soon out of sight. Cursing, he lifted his pack and put the straps around his shoulders as he ran forward to catch up to Mathew.

As much as he didn’t want to go any further towards the Heart of the Nest, Allen didn’t want to be left alone in the darkness of the chamber. With his rifle in his hands, Allen rushed down the passageway after Mathew.

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“Psychic Lash!” Rehn projected her Psionic powers outwards in a thin line of energy interlaced with her mana. Like a whip of burning blue flames, her Blessing struck the approaching Anti-Life. Cleaving through flesh and bone, the attack cracked the stone of the wall behind the creatures.

The Anti-Life were attacking the camp in an unending swarm. Each of the advanced scouting parties reported that they were unable to make it more than a mile into the tunnels before they were assaulted by the monsters.

Rehn had lost track of the casualties amongst the Players. The bodies faded over time and were always replaced with fresh losses.

It had been hours and still the Anti-Life emerged from the Nest while the Players reserves of mana were quickly depleted, necessitating a slow and costly retreat to the surface. She wasn’t sure how long it would take for the Anti-Life to exhaust their numbers, but she knew they had no choice but to continue.

Hopefully, the end was soon in sight. Drawing in a deep breath, she rejoined the battle.

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“Mathew, take a look at this.” Allen said as he brushed his hand against the wall of the passage. There were objects emerging from the right of him, protrusions that had cracked the stone and damaged the lines of crimson mana that coated the wall.

Mathew leaned forward and took a closer look, even going so far as to take out a small flashlight from his pack to inspect it. After only a moment, he turned off the light and returned it to his pack.

“It’s the roots of the World Tree. We’re at one of the outer edges of the Nest; the roots couldn’t penetrate the walls.” Mathew explained.

“Then we’re almost out?” Allen asked in relief, and Mathew shrugged.

“Looks like it, although I’m not sure which edge this is. But it’s strange; the mana is becoming thicker as we move forward, but this is clearly the edge of the Nest…” Mathew’s voice trailed off as he took a final look at the wall before turning and heading forward once again.

“Maybe the mana is stronger here because it’s maintaining a barrier against the World Tree’s roots. That could be why we haven’t seen any of the Anti-Life here; they know that this place is well protected.” Allen guessed, and Mathew gave a slight nod.

“Perhaps.”

They continued on; the roots that were barely visible through the stone would come in and out of sight as if the World Tree had given up on its attempts to enter the Nest after being Stymied. Ignoring them, Mathew chose tunnels and passages at random until the pair came to another chamber.

The passage widened suddenly, and Mathew was struck by an intense smell of Aether and an overpowering feeling of Corrupted Mana. The power of it was so strong that even Mathew stumbled as if struck, falling to one knee while Allen fell backwards, landing on his backside.

Retching and gagging at the smell of spice that coated his nostrils and tongue, Mathew spat onto the ground and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. There was a steady, red light in this chamber, and Mathew was surprised that it didn’t pulse or fade at all.

Slowly looking up, Mathew was struck silent by the sight of a large, red crystal floating in the air above them. Lines of crimson mana emerged from the crystal into the walls, where they ran down from the ceiling and entered the stone around it.

Mathew could hear a rhythmic sound, like a heart beating, as he stared at the crystal. There was so much mana inside of it that it was nearly blinding to his eyes.

“We made it. The heart of the Nest.” Mathew whispered in shock and awe. His stunned state lasted only a moment as a loud ‘Ding’ rang out in his mind, and a notification came from the system.