Chapter 72

Talia

Talia watched as the odd little basilisk melted the wall as if it were putty, or glass under high-heat. From a height that would reach over her own head to the floor, the stone seemed to compress and fall away with odd patterns of shifting stone. As progress moved forward, the pressed and molded rock reformed with strange and spiraled motions encapsulated and fixed static by the loss of mana and power: Proof of manipulation immortalized.

It was ridiculously powerful.

After watching the serpent raise the tower out of the island, she had known it was strong. There were probably only a few Mages alive that would have performed a similar feat, and none of them would have been able to have created the walls and interior of the island in a single day. Not without the assistance of a magic-circle or a large quantity of mana-potions. If you're reading this on webnovel, this was posted without my permission.

But the strength she was witnessing seemed more than just sheer power. From her stone seat in the small room, Talia watched the visible flair of genius that seemed to fix itself with every new-formed step as the work pushed onward. There was efficiency, of more than just pure talent and determination taking place. Any mage with power over Earth might replicate the motions and the purpose of creating a passageway up through stone, but in the swirling echoes of rock and mana, Talia could see the signs of a master.

A sculptor of stone and trade might make a carving, perhaps even a staircase similar to this in function and purpose: but only a master could make it timeless.

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"Clunk."

The foreign sound brought her attention to the final step created so far, earth still swirling apart as the blue scales illuminated their twisting patterns with a strange magnificence. As she peered closer though, Talia soon realized there was something else glowing, present atop the newly formed steps.

A perfect glowing crystal had just been pried from the bedrock of the worked stone. Sitting there in plain sight was the kind of Deep-Dungeon Crystal that went to the market for bidding no more than a few times every decade. The type some nobles might use to power Air-ships, or Royal machines. Something that could lift up an ordinary adventurer into the class of a rich and wealthy Noble.

It was massive- Easily larger than her hand, but from its radiance Talia knew it was different. Perfect Green, not even the slightest hint of a flaw or crack in its perfect spherical shape. No impurities at all.

Truth be told, in her current state of mind Talia would trade it for a loaf of bread and a warm bowl of soup, but staring at it in a light-headed wonder from her seat, the green glow was mesmerizing. Her gear was missing, her armor was in pieces, her weapon was lost, but sitting there on a freshly made step of stone was a gem that could buy a mansion in the peaceful country-side twice over. It was such a foreign beauty she couldn't even fathom.

So much wealth. Unbelievable, it was just sitting there. Just waiting for someone to find it, and take it away. On careful steps, Talia approached it, hand outstretched, before gasping in horror.

Before her eyes, it disappeared.

Slowly.

Painfully.

Talia watched speechless as it was swallowed up by the lesser blue luminescence of a tiny basilisk, who then let out a small burp before turning to her with a single flick of its tongue. An expression she could only interpret as a reptilian trying to say: "I might have just made a very terrible mistake."

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