Mark created ten [Force bolts] around himself and shot them off in all directions. The projectiles tore through the Corrupteds soft bodies, Mark only stopped when there were two remaining.

They put up vanishingly little fight as they didn't even bother to try and dodge, content to stand there and attack Mark's construct.

When he had finally managed to cull their numbers Mark checked his prompts and saw they were called Wights.

Though they were a bad matchup against anyone with a strong mental defense, that did not mean they were weak.

To anyone unprepared, these Corrupted were a death sentence.

This was why Mark almost reacted on instinct and killed the remaining enemies when Jonahan decided to walk out of the construct completely unprotected.

The moment he did their mental attacks finally let up as they found purchase on Jonathan's mind.

"Jon! What the hell do you think you are doing!" Sam shouted.

Jonathan clutched his temples but otherwise looked fine.

Mark moved to cover him in a construct, but Jonathan held up his hand.

"Wait, This is important, I have a hunch. I need to see just how much I can tolerate," he said through a clenched jaw.

Mark could see where he was coming from but he was going about it in possibly the most dangerous way.

Mental attacks were a weakness for Jonathan. His body could just about handle anything at this stage, even going so far as to take a blade or fire directly on his bare skin, but his mind was a different story. Without a high Mana stat to act as a buffer, he was at the mercy of the attacker.

The only saving grace was that these ants' mental attacks were incredibly rudimentary.

"I get that, but couldn't you have asked me to test it out, I would have been happy to smack you around a bit," Mark said with a bitter expression.

He had physically stopped himself from extending the shield out over Jonathan again.

"Oh come on, these attacks are annoying but even I can handle them."

Mark wanted to say that it wasn't about how strong they were because it took him significantly longer to heal a mental wound, but even he had to admit these creatures posed no real threat on their own.

The thing was Jonathan should already know this, but still remained in place, staring down the remaining Wights in defiance.

Jonathan was not suicidal so Mark had to trust he knew what he was doing.

"You guys, watch the entrance for me and make sure no more comes out here," Jonathan said as he sat down cross-legged in front of the Corrupted. The ant-like creatures stood on their hind legs and flared out their limbs like a tarantula making themselves bigger.

Jonathan's words caused Mark's attention to switch back to his running [Earth mastery]. The moment he did, he fell into it again.

His newest sense had expanded out below him but it wasn't going nearly as far as it had the last time he had let it free.

Mark was certain it had something to do with the amount of corruption on the stone blocking his 'sight'. The interesting thing was that the spell could not be completely blocked by the fetid energy.

Imbuing the quarry's stone with his own energy and manipulating it in meaningful amounts was nearly impossible, but seeing a short distance into it proved much easier.

From here, Mark could tell that ahead of them was a mine shaft that dropped off for another fifty meters.

After that the first level came into view and it was teeming with the ants that seemed to be going about their tasks of gathering and building.

It was strange to see Corrupted that weren't walking around aimlessly or chasing after food. These Corrupted seemed to be burrowing into the earth, spreading out from more than just the man-made tunnels. It was a mess down there, but he could not see much beyond that.

Pulling himself from the earth again, Mark could feel Jonathan as he sat there breathing through what most would call torture.

Mark could even feel the shift in weight of the Corrupted, while Jason and Wesley watched the entrance closely.

Sam took a step next to Mark and grabbed hold of his bicep. Her concern-filled eyes never moved from Jonathan and a lethal spell on the tips of her fingers.

Minutes ticked by but no one said anything as Jonathan sat there. His Aura was doing something strange as it undulated around him.

The corrupted remained at a close distance and while they looked like they wanted to attack physically they never did.

It was shortly after that, that the Corrupted suddenly let out a screech. They began thrashing about and then finally they dropped to the ground still.

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Jonathan opened his eyes and a smile bloomed on his face.

Sam took a step forward and frowned.

"What did you do to them?"

Jonathan got up wiping the mud stains off his pants.

"I followed my gut. Or in this case my Aura. It was telling me that I could learn something from them, so I took the time to hear it out. I just got a skill called [Thought carapice]. It allows me to retaliate using my Aura, but only if they attack me with a mental attack first."

It was perfectly reasonable to believe that his Aura had given him insight into these creatures, but something about the way Jonathan frowned to himself didn't sit right with Mark. He glanced at Sam and saw that she had seen it too.

For now, they agreed not to say anything because Jonathan was obviously not ready to share but it was still an incredibly useful skill that would help going forward.

"Right, shall we get going?" Jason asked.

Mark nodded just as soon as he got a look at Jonathan's condition. Over time Mark had grown to be able to see someone's mental wounds just as well as their physical ones. The downside was that while he could tell there were two puncture wounds near the edges of Jonathan's consciousness, he could do very little to help.

So, bunching up a large packet of Prana he used [Regenerate] to drip-feed Jonathan's consciousness energy. It would act as a buffer in the case that he put his new skill to the test, and knowing the guy well, it was almost a certainty.

When Mark had finished up they got ready to enter but just before they did he felt something strange behind them again. [Earth mastery] told him that several of the Corrupted bodies were disappearing and he didn't need to glance back to notice Jonathan sending them into his storage.

The corner of Mark's mouth twitched up but he didn't say anything as they all gathered up near the entrance. The passage was still somewhat submerged under water so Sam pulled more water from in front of them and either sent it out or froze it against the walls of the tunnel.

The moment they stepped through the systems archway a prompt made itself known.

Dungeon # 1029

Name - N/A

Tier - 2

Class - Miasma

Reward class - Mana

Mark frowned at the prompt as he created several lights to illuminate the darkness. They had certainly been in harder dungeons before, but that was no reason to get complacent. It was still dangerous and Mark also noted that something was not adding up with the level of Corruption he was feeling. The moment they crossed the threshold he felt an incredible amount of Corruption. It was still at an orange level, but unlike the ones in the city, it usually took time to this level of corruption. Instead, the Corruption immediately set upon them the moment they crossed the threshold.

Mark's construct held it out but it was strange. He made this known to everyone as soon as they had stopped to take in their surroundings.

Sam continued to send water from the tunnel, clearing a path ahead until they reached the mine shaft. The elevator doors hung open, bent and rusted as if clawed apart by unseen hands. The car that once ferried people below was gone, leaving only frayed cables swaying gently in the humid air.

Just below, a vast pool of water churned quietly, its surface rippling with flashes of violet light that danced like ghostly flames. The source of the light came from streaks of corrupted mold that clung to the walls of the shaft, their slimy tendrils reaching out like grasping fingers, their dark, spongy forms pulsing faintly. The sickly scent of decay wafted upward, mixing with the metallic tang of damp stone, adding an oppressive weight to the already heavy air.

Wesley looked up at Sam sheepishly

"Please tell me we have a plan for this. Fighting in metal armor underwater is a nightmare."

Sam scratched her chin and glanced at Mark.

"I have an idea but it will take a fair bit of Mana, you want to help me?"

Mark bobbed his head and took Sam's offered hand, matching their wills. Mark's Mana moved to reinforce Sam and he felt her triggering [Flame mastery].

A quarter-sized ball of flame ignited in her palm and then shot out beyond the shield and floated just above the pool. Their Mana plunged into the small fireball and its neon blue light shifted, growing whiter as their Mana poured in. It flashed between blue and white until a brilliant star of light floated in front of their team. The walls of the mine shaft had begun to smoke as mold began to wither and die. The heat coming off the spell was so high that the surface level of the water had begun to bubble.

Then like releasing a snowflake, she let the fireball drift down. Even before it hit the surface of the water the evaporation began, causing scalding steam to explode into the narrow chamber. A small manipulation of the surrounding air sent the cloud of vapor around their construct, shooting up and out of the tunnel.

When the star hit the water directly there was an almighty hiss of vaporizing water. The tunnel around them blurred out of sight even though the walls were not more than a few meters from them.

Mark could feel the star drop into the depths of the shaft and even the point at which it leveled out. More water began to rush in from all directions pulling things in towards the burning star. Mark could feel as Wights were torn off the walls and dragged by the sudden current, dying almost immediately.

Mana flowed ceaselessly from Sam and Mark and when she had reached their halfway reserves the water on the lower level seemed mostly cleared out. Sam let the spell splutter out and took a breath.

"Alright, that should have given us a bit of breathing room."

Jason's eyes were trained on the tunnel and he looked up flabbergasted.

Jonathan looked down and clicked his tongue.

"Wow, good job. But leave some for me next time."

As he said this he jumped down and they all followed. When they got to the bottom, nothing but carbonized and boiled bodies greeted them.

The searing damp air carried the scent of cooked lobster.

The was still water remaining, but it was only about an inch deep.

When they touched down Wesley whistled.

"Damn, you weren't lying about being able to create a nuke."

Sam shook her head.

"Again, I'm not capable of something like a nuke. That flame was maintained at roughly three thousand degrees. I had to vent the steam to avoid a structural collapse, but other than that it was nothing fancy. The deeper we go the harder it will get for me to vent the water vapor, so if there is another level we're probably swimming."

Everyone remained quiet as they looked at Sam with raised brows, but Wesley broke the silence again.

"Samantha, I don't think you get how impressive that is, so I'll say it for the rest of us. You're incredible."

Sam smiled at Wesley and winked her thanks.

"Well, if we're done, I have a feeling we've got company," Sam said, staring into the dark passageway.

The damp walls glistened, still slick with hanging Corruption, as the faint squelch of approaching footsteps echoed through the air.

Mark raised his lights, their beams cutting through the shadows to reveal three paths ahead. One bore the clean, straight edges of a man-made tunnel, while the others twisted unevenly, gouged out by something with massive claws.

All three passageways shimmered in the light—not from moisture, but from the countless tiny eyes that blinked back at them. The walls were alive with movement, the eyes reflecting like scattered jewels in the darkness, unblinking and watching.

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