Digging Deeper
Edric spent five more months tirelessly searching for the area with the highest concentration of dark energy.
To make his search more efficient, he dedicated some time to crafting a mythic spell that would allow him to track it with greater accuracy.
As an Ultra Knight, his eyesight was already incredibly powerful—capable of perceiving dark energy, one of the hardest energies to detect with the naked eye. But even with his natural abilities, an additional spell couldn't hurt.
...
"[Flashlight]" Edric cast the spell once more.
A golden beam of light shot out, struggling to reach the ground—but it faltered halfway, vanishing before it could make contact.
"Here… even a golden-ranked light spell is suppressed! This must be the place with the highest concentration of dark energy!" Edric thought, his eyes narrowing as he peered down.
Beneath him, the ground was littered with countless dark elemental stones, dark elemental water, dark elemental wood, and more. It was a paradise for dark energy. The concentration in the air was so high that it was almost tangible, a thick, oppressive presence.
As an Ultra Knight, Edric's sight was far beyond ordinary—he could peer through the dense atmosphere and see thousands of feet beneath the surface. What caught his attention was the fact that the concentration of dark energy grew even stronger the deeper he looked.
"The source of the dark energy must be underground!" he realized.
"Time to dig!" he decided, flying down to the surface and casting another spell.
"[Telekinesis]!"
He had once possessed a skill with the same that allowed him to control objects without touching them. Mages were inherently capable of telekinesis—they could manipulate their mana to move things with their mind. However, using the [Telekinesis] spell greatly decreased its mana cost, while also enhancing its power and accuracy.
With mythic rank [Telekinesis], Edric began to excavate at an incredible speed. In just one hour, he had dug over 100 feet deep and 20 feet wide. But as he descended further, the soil grew more resistant, harder, and tougher to break through. While it wasn't enough to stop his Mythic [Telekinesis], it did slow him down considerably.
...
After months of hard work, Edric managed to dig 50 miles deep and 300 feet wide. To make things easier, he simply tossed all the soil and gravel into a spatial ring. Every now and then, he would return to the surface to empty it before continuing his excavation.
"This is so difficult! This dark soil is definitely a legendary material!" Edric sighed, his [Telekinesis] struggling to dig any further.
"I don't have a mythic shovel… so how am I supposed to keep digging?" he muttered, deep in thought. Eventually, he decided to use the Mythic Lance to break apart the legendary dark soil, making it easier to remove.
"Fortunately, I set up plenty of magic formations to reinforce the tunnel, so the risk of it collapsing is minimal!" he reassured himself.
A 50-mile-deep hole naturally had the possibility of collapsing. If that happened, he would be buried alive. Of course, with his Ultra Physique, he wasn't worried about dying—but the thought of redoing all this work was enough to make him shudder.
"These masses of legendary-rank soil could sell for a fortune!" he thought. Luckily, he had brought plenty of spatial rings and had been storing every bit of the valuable material.
"Even though I'm here for the Dark Crystal, making some extra money on the side wouldn't hurt!" he thought, raising the Mythic Lance and slashing at the dark soil blocking his path.
Slash!
The lance effortlessly cut through the dense earth, breaking it into countless pieces. Using [Telekinesis], Edric gathered the fragments and threw them into one of his spatial rings.
"It's a pity my [Telekinesis] isn't strong enough to break through this legendary dark soil… It's forcing me to take unnecessary risks," he thought bitterly.
After all, he had been taking his time, carefully excavating, because he feared damaging the Dark Crystal hidden below. Now, with [Telekinesis] proving ineffective, he was forced to use the Mythic Lance. Even though he was cautious, there was still a remote chance that the Dark Crystal was invisible to his Ultra Knight's Sight—if so, he might accidentally destroy it without even realizing.
"My so-called Mythic [Telekinesis] is pathetic! I guess the spells I designed aren't as top-notch as I thought…" he sighed.
His magic knowledge was still limited. Even with [Magic Computer (Ultra)], there were gaps he couldn't fill. That was why some of his mythic-rank spells were weaker than they should be.
"[Telekinesis] isn't meant for combat, nor is it meant for digging. It's neither sharp nor sturdy—it's not that [Telekinesis] is weak, it's just that it's not designed for this!" Edric thought, quickly coming up with justifications.
"Should I design a new spell specifically for digging through legendary dark soil?" he pondered. Up until now, [Telekinesis] had been enough, so he hadn't bothered creating another spell. But now, it was clear that he needed something specialized.
"Hmm… Let's do it!"
Right then and there, he sat down cross-legged and began calculating.
At a depth of 50 miles underground, there was no air, no light, no sound. For a mortal, the very idea of such a place would be terrifying. But Edric, with his [Mental Fortitude (Purple)] skill, was completely unbothered. The absolute silence, the suffocating lack of air, and the raging dark energy pressing down on him—it didn't affect him in the slightest.
...
After a month of intense calculations, Edric finally opened his eyes, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"[Sharp Telekinesis]—this should do the trick!"
He stood up and cast his newly designed mythic spell, [Sharp Telekinesis].
An invisible force shot forward, striking the legendary dark soil. Unlike before, it easily pierced through, tearing the dense material apart with precision. The broken pieces automatically gathered and dropped into his spatial ring, clearing the way effortlessly.
"Perfect," Edric muttered, watching his new spell work its magic.
...
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Edric had managed to dig another 10 miles deeper—only to hit yet another roadblock.
Mythic Dark Soil.
After painstakingly breaking through all the Legendary Dark Soil, he had expected the excavation to get easier. Instead, the difficulty increased. Now, even [Sharp Telekinesis] was struggling.
After all, breaking Legendary Dark Soil was far easier than Mythic Dark Soil.
The concentration of dark energy had risen dramatically. Now, not even Legendary Light could pierce through the overwhelming darkness. Only Mythic Light could dispel it with ease.
...
"I'm afraid my current rank isn't enough," Edric thought grimly.
He could no longer dig as easily as before. The obstacle before him was mythic-rank material—the same rank as himself. As a mythic mage, it was unrealistic to expect that he could easily break through something of equal rank.
"I have no choice but to dig with my bare hands!" he sighed.
Luckily, as an Ultra Knight, his physical strength far surpassed the mythic rank. He could tear through this soil with nothing but his hands if necessary.
"I'll keep digging… but if the dark soil keeps getting tougher and eventually reaches ultra rank, I'll have no choice but to give up," he admitted to himself.
The sheer concentration of dark energy in the environment was already overwhelming. Even other Ultra Knights would struggle to survive down here. The only reason he was fine had to be due to his skills—probably a combination of [Blessed by the Abyss (Purple)], [Abyss Emissary (Purple)], and [Demonic Ancestor (Purple)]—helping him resist the suffocating energy.
Without wasting another moment, Edric clenched his fists and began tearing through the mythic dark soil with his bare hands.
...
After an entire year of digging, Edric had only managed to advance eight miles.
After all, he was using nothing but his bare hands to carve a tunnel through mythic dark soil. Even with his Ultra-Rank physique, he still needed to rest from time to time.
For most Ultra-Rank Knights, mythic materials were usually as soft as tofu. But even if something were as soft as tofu, digging miles upon miles of it was no easy task. And worse—the deeper he went, the tougher the 'tofu' became.
Though it hadn't quite reached Ultra-Rank, the dark soil had grown denser and stronger, reaching the pinnacle of Mythic-Rank.
The concentration of dark energy had also risen to an unimaginable level. Even his Mythic [Flashlight] spell failed to pierce the suffocating darkness.
One had to understand—the balance of power between light and darkness was in light's favor. The fact that a Mythic-Rank spell failed to illuminate the darkness meant only one thing…
The darkness was far stronger.
Perhaps… it was nearing Super-Rank ...
...
"I've hit Ultra Dark Soil…" Edric sighed, coming to a halt.
The soil was now at the same rank as him, meaning he could no longer dig through it without specialized equipment. When the soil had only been Mythic rank, it was like slicing through tofu. But now? It was like trying to dig through solid wood. Sure, he might be able to break or pierce through it, but it wouldn't be easy, and without the right tools, he'd definitely injure himself trying.
"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now…" he muttered in frustration.
He could only see a few feet beneath the Ultra Dark Soil—a stark difference from when he could see through ordinary soil with ease. The gap between the two was like night and day.
"I failed," he sighed, disappointment washing over him.
But he had no other options.
"Guess I'll just have to wait for my XP to accumulate," he thought. If he could buy a skill designed for digging, he might be able to break through this obstacle.
"A Super Skill costs around 40,000,000 XP… so I just need to wait a few years," he calculated.
"During those years… I might as well leave and rest in that Elven City while I wait for my XP to build up," Edric decided.
With that, he cast [Fly] and soared out of the massive hole.
Once on the surface, he carefully covered the entrance as much as possible, marking the area with signs to ensure he wouldn't forget the location. Then, without looking back, he took off, heading toward the Elven City.