Free Web NovelChapter 30: Mana Crystal
Leon flew through the air after just barely maneuvering his body out of its mouth and being thrown by its lip. He crashed back down into the sand as the worm twisted back around. Its eyes stayed locked on the explorer while it swam towards him.
"Frost Spike."
Luke cast, just as Leon did. A chunk of ice pierced through the monster’s exoskeleton, while a flame spear ripped through its body and exited out the other side.
The worm’s insides were charred, while its body was being coated in a thin frost that stopped its erratic movement.
Luke didn’t let up until half its body was covered in ice, while Leon hobbled away from the beast.
A guttural screech left the massive worm’s mouth and shook the explorers’ eardrums. Luke could feel his eardrum start to leak blood out of its canal, but he couldn’t pause for a second.
The boss’s movement was locked due to the frost, leaving it an open target lying above the sand.
One after another, Frost Spikes lodged themselves into the worm. Both its eyes were covered in ice, with its mouth getting the same treatment. The layer was so thick that its mouth stayed open, giving Leon enough time to send one last flame spear through its body.
After watching his spell successfully travel through the worm’s body, he fell to the ground in mana exhaustion.
Luke only had 20% of his mana left, while the monster was sitting on death’s door. Its bony body had holes lining its exterior, while it was frozen in place. He walked in front of its mouth, witnessing the burning effect from Leon’s last attack. A part of him thought it was dead, but seeing its frozen eyes twitch, another volley of five Frost Spikes sank deep into its body.
Its eyes stayed locked on him, and Luke took it as a sign of life.
"Frost Spike!"
"Frost Spike!"
Two more came zipping into its eyes, completely covering its irises and finally breaching a fatal point; its body convulsed the best it could with the layer of frost locking its body into one solid shape.
Its eyes finally let go of their target and came to an unfocused stare at the sand in front of him. Sand cascaded out as its body slammed into the sand one last time.
The bony giant had died, just like that.
If it wasn’t for their more than overkill spells, they wouldn’t have been able to survive.
"Is it dead?" Leon called out from behind Luke.
Luke didn’t have to answer the question as their surroundings started to disappear, the body of the worm slowly dissolved into the air. They felt the sand shift beneath them, revealing a solid piece of stone underneath.
At the opposite end of the opening, an entrance appeared; behind it was a white room.
"We did it!"
Luke helped Leon stand up. He struggled to balance through the headache but managed well enough.
"I really owe you one now."
"I only take payment in platinum coins."
Both of them chuckled at Luke’s small joke before walking across the smooth stone floor and into the nexus room.
A familiar orb rested on a pedestal in the middle of the room. It didn’t matter which one of them broke the nexus, as they would both get the reward of mana, but whoever broke it would get the tangible reward if there was one.
Luke took a step back and let Leon do the honors. He thought it was only right, since he had reserved the rift, even if it should have been his grave.
Leon realized his intention and stepped up to the nexus, placing his hand on it and crushing it. Mana filled Luke’s core, while Leon didn’t bother with the mana; he held something shiny in his hand.
"Luke, you may just get a platinum coin after all."
The blond-haired noble turned to face Luke, revealing a crystal in his hands. He immediately realized what it was.
"A Mana Crystal? There are only a few times they’ve been found in F-Rank rifts."
Both explorers were a little awestruck. It wasn’t Leon’s first time seeing one; after all, his family had many high-rank explorers who casually carried around such expensive items, but holding it was different. It was a reward that he had put his life on the line for, not just a crystal worth money.
"What should we do with it?"
"Sell it. It’s not like either of us would have a use for a mana crystal anyway."
Leon continued to stare at it, not sure if he wanted to part with the small crystal in his hands.
"What if I paid you full price for it? Could I keep it then?"
Luke thought about it. Really, there wasn’t anything to think about; he just wanted to make it look like a tough decision.
"Full market price?"
"Since it’s this small, it would only be worth a few platinum coins at best. I’ll give you five for it. That’s more than we would get selling it."
Three years of his family’s income, just for a small crystal that they pulled out of a rift that he didn’t even reserve.
"That’s fine with me, but why do you want to keep it anyway?"
Leon didn’t hesitate and pulled out five coins from his bracelet, placing them in Luke’s outstretched hand.
"I’m thinking about getting it made into a necklace, as a memento of sorts."
"You must really like worms or something."
Luke got a cockeyed stare from his fellow explorer before Leon realized what he meant.
"Not that kind of reminder. It’s a memento to my hard work and my first real rift. Something to remind me of the effort it took to get to where I am."
Luke played with the coins in his hand. He couldn’t care less about the noble’s reason now that he got compensation.
"Alright. Well, let’s go. It’s probably afternoon already."
After a few hours spent slaughtering worms, Luke had worked up both exhaustion and appetite. The only thing he wanted to do was go home, eat, and see Valeria.
The two stepped through the exit which appeared after the destruction of the nexus.
Before Luke’s vision could go black, a screen appeared in front of him.
[Rift Cleared: Spouse Mana +10]
