The wind and sand died down, and everything fell quiet. The first to break this silence was Ksaz.
His broad, tall golden figure stumbled out from behind the bone wall. Half of his scales were covered in a thick layer of sand. With one arm supporting Karu, who was almost completely drained of strength, and the other resting on the bone wall, he searched for Shane's figure.
“Sir... Sir!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice sounding somewhat raspy. Beside him, Karu leaned heavily against his shoulder, panting heavily as his chest heaved violently.
Karu raised his head with a tremble. As he looked up at the clear sky overhead, his eyes couldn't help but light up.
“I'm... still alive?”
He seemed to find it hard to believe. Looking at his groaning companions around him, his body began to shake. “We all survived?”
Ksaz glanced sideways at him and slapped him hard on the back, a blow that nearly knocked the wind out of Karu.
“Of course we survived!”
Ksaz grinned, revealing his sharp fangs. “You didn't get to see Sir show off his great power. With Sir here, what is there to fear!”
After saying this, the other five sand scalers behind him also stood up from behind the wall, supporting one another.
Their frames were visibly thinner than usual, and their steps were unsteady. Traces carved by the storm still remained on their scales, but the moment they saw the starlit sky, they immediately knew what had happened.
Then, someone let out a cheer, and the edge of the pool suddenly became lively.
“We survived!”
“The sand spirit is gone! We won!”
“We did it! We actually did it! Thank you, Mr. Leynas!”
Watching his cheering clansmen, Karu's lips trembled, and his eyes suddenly welled with tears. Tears flowed through the gaps between his scales, washing two shallow paths through the sand on his face.
“You blockhead, why are you crying?”
Ksaz pushed him aside with a look of mild annoyance, but he couldn't help but look up himself, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Just then, a sudden tremor shook the ground.
Before anyone could react, a pitch-black figure burst out from the sand not far away. Without bothering to greet anyone, it flicked its tail-sting and scurried toward a certain mound of sand near the pool.
Soon after, its two giant pincers began digging rapidly, sending dust flying. In a short moment, Elon's figure was revealed from beneath the sand.
His dark green short hair had turned slightly gray, and his cheeks were visibly sunken. He looked as if he had lost a significant amount of weight.
Sara lowered her head to get closer to him, tentatively nudging his cheek with her head while making a series of short, clicking noises.
Elon's eyelids fluttered twice before slowly opening. He froze for a moment when he saw Sara right in front of him, then rolled his eyes to scan the now-quiet sandy ground around them.
He seemed to be confirming something.
Then, his gaze focused on the slender figure walking toward him. Twitching the corner of his mouth, he asked, “We... aren't dead, are we?”
Shane walked up to him, sizing him up from head to toe before a hint of playfulness flashed in his eyes. “If you want to die, I can bury you back in.”
Elon let out a soft snort and couldn't help but chuckle. However, halfway through his laugh, his weakness caught up with him, and he began to cough. Seeing this, Shane leaned down and offered his hand.
Elon grasped it without hesitation. He used Shane's strength to stand up, but his legs buckled the moment he rose, and he fell forward.
Shane's reflexes were quick; he reached out to catch Elon's shoulders and helped him stand upright.
Elon leaned against Shane, catching his breath for a moment before finally recovering.
“To be honest...”
His voice was very soft, filled with the clear relief of a survivor. “I've lived for decades, and this is the first time I've ever been dug out of the sand by an earth stinger.”
Shane glanced at him. “Any complaints?”
“None.”
Elon smiled and shook his head. He then raised his hand with difficulty and patted Shane's arm that was supporting him. “Thank you.”
Shane flashed a confident smile and said, “With me around, you don't have to worry about such things.”
Elon didn't reply, only letting out another soft chuckle.
Nearby, Sara hopped in place a couple of times, waving her giant pincers in turn while rhythmically swaying her tail-sting, as if celebrating that everyone present was alive.
“Sir! Sir! Look over there!”
Ksaz's voice suddenly came from behind. Shane and Elon turned their heads at the same time, looking in the direction Ksaz was pointing.
They saw that the plants, most of which were buried under the sand, were currently emitting a faint, emerald-green glow.
The tips of the branches exposed to the air were sprouting new buds at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Every plant was bursting with green, showing absolutely no sign of having just suffered a natural disaster.
Shane watched in surprise, a memory of what had happened during the quicksand incident flashing through his mind.
Could it be that this time too...
But Elon, unlike Shane, had a look of understanding in his eyes as he explained, “It should be the residual effect of the Hymn of Life.”
“This spell itself is a wide-area, continuous recovery spell. Without the sand spirit's suppression, its effects will persist for a while.”
“But when the sand spirit was active just now, the power of death was too dense. The spell's power couldn't be released and could only linger within the plants. Now that the suppression has vanished, all of that energy is feeding back into them.”
This could be considered a good thing.
Shane nodded slightly, the corners of his mouth curving upward. Good news after a disaster was always pleasant.
But before this pleasant feeling could spread, it was interrupted by another strange light coming from the direction of the pool.
A soft silver glow rose from the center of the pool, spreading rapidly outward like a drop of ink in clear water.
Starting from the mud at the center of the pool and extending to about a meter or two from the shore, the originally yellowish-brown sand was turning into shimmering silver particles at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Shane raised an eyebrow. “Is this also the effect of the Hymn of Life?”
“No.”
Elon's answer came almost simultaneously with Shane's question. He stared solemnly at the transforming sand.
Then, he pulled away from Shane's support, stumbled a few steps toward the pool, squatted down, and reached out with trembling hands to scoop up a handful of the silver sand.
The grains of sand shimmered softly under the moonlight, feeling smooth and delicate to the touch—completely different from ordinary sand.
Elon carefully brought the sand closer to his eyes, staring at it for a long time before letting out a gasp. “Ectoplasmic crystals?”
Hearing this, Shane also walked over. Looking at the shimmering silver particles, his expression turned peculiar.
Of course he recognized ectoplasmic crystals. In nature, these were usually only found in areas with extremely high mana concentration, or otherwise obtained through specific rituals or high-tier decomposition in alchemy.
They served as alchemical ingredients, spellcasting consumables, and could even be used to repair damaged magic circuits and items. Their uses were incredibly diverse.
The price was also relatively expensive for ordinary people; a standard measure of ectoplasmic crystals cost between thirty and fifty gold coins.
Then this entire pool of ectoplasmic crystals...
Shane's eyelid twitched. He looked at Elon, whose face was filled with shock. Clearly, Elon hadn't anticipated this either.
After a brief silence, Elon suddenly seemed to remember something. He crawled forward a few steps, dunked his head into the water, and took a huge gulp.
Splash!
He quickly pulled his head out of the pool. His previously weak and exhausted face now looked much more energetic, and his complexion had grown slightly rosier.
Before Shane could even ask what was going on, Elon suddenly threw his head back and laughed out loud. “Hahaha! I knew it!”
He turned to look at Shane, his voice brimming with excitement. “There's mana in the water now, and it's incredibly abundant!”
Shane raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical of Elon's wild claims. He immediately went to the water's edge, bent down, scooped up a bit of the pool water with his hand, and tasted it.
As the cool liquid slid down his throat, a sweet taste blossomed on his tongue. Immediately after, a refreshing sensation spread through his entire body, replenishing his depleted mana.
Drinking the rest of the water in his hand, Shane covered his mouth and whispered, “Has this turned into a spring of mana?”
Beside him, Elon's grin widened even further as he explained how he had figured it out. “Ectoplasmic crystals are typically only produced in high-mana environments. Since the silt in the pool has transformed into crystals, the pool water must contain a vast amount of mana as well.”
At this point, Elon suddenly grew serious, warning Shane, “We must keep this a secret for the time being. If those fellows from the Magical Council or the Arcane Workshop find out that a natural spring of mana has appeared in the Golden Sea...”
He didn't need to finish the sentence for Shane to understand the danger involved. Just as Shane nodded and was about to say something, he heard Sara suddenly make a clicking noise nearby.
Her body was sprawled on the sandy ground not far from them, her two giant pincers rapidly digging up the sand beneath her feet.
Before long, she paused in her movements and began waving her giant pincers vigorously toward Shane and Elon.
Shane and Elon exchanged a glance, then stood up together and walked toward Sara.
Rate on N.U.
