Utopian System

In an instant, Elio found himself completely enveloped in a carbon box.

Would the Locus attack the box?

Or, unable to see Elio anymore, would it ignore it?

The first seconds were of tense silence.

Then, to Elio's consternation, he heard the unmistakable sound of a blow against the carbon.

Elio could feel the vibrations in his body, a reminder of the brute force that the Locus possessed.

The monster was attacking the box.

"Damn it," he muttered, his mind working frantically to process this new information.

Elio knew that with the Locus' attack of 10, each face of the box would only resist 42 points of damage, five hits before giving in.

"No time to waste."

Without hesitating a second longer, Elio signaled to Wide Guard, his faithful elephant, the wall behind him.

He had to create a hole in the back of the box... But his elephant could do it without spending mana.

"Absorb," Elio ordered, and the elephant obeyed, its trunk dematerializing the carbon from the back wall.

With the agility born of desperation, Elio slipped through the newly created hole, entering again the relative safety of his tunnel. He wasted no time closing the hole behind him, the carbon flowing to seal the entrance.

Elio's Mana: 53

The Locus' blows continued, now muffled by the tunnel walls. Elio knew he didn't have much time before the box gave in completely.

Using the small hollows he had left in the tunnel walls, Elio began to climb rapidly. Each movement was calculated, each grip precise. He couldn't afford a single mistake.

Upon reaching the top of the tunnel, Elio acted quickly. He opened the ceiling, allowing Wide Guard to absorb another square meter of carbon. Immediately after, Elio refilled the space with new carbon, ensuring the integrity of the structure.

Elio's Mana: 52

Now, Elio found himself at the top of his tunnel, five meters from where the Locus continued its assault against the empty box.

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From this elevated position, he had a panoramic view of the situation.

Elio's heart raced when he saw the Locus finally break the box. For a moment, the creature seemed confused at not finding its prey inside.

Elio held his breath, waiting to see what its next move would be.

The answer came in a way Elio hadn't anticipated and that made his blood run cold. Other Locus, attracted by the commotion, began to approach the upper layer of the tunnel…

And to Elio's horror, following the example of the first, they began to attack the structure.

"No, no, no," Elio muttered, the realization hitting him hard.

The bare tunnel not only didn't serve as a hiding place, but it seemed to provoke a destructive instinct in the Locus.

The target priority for the monsters seemed to be:

1 = Humans in sight.

2 = Human structures in sight.

3 = Head towards the human city.

The situation was deteriorating rapidly.

The Locus were charging against the tunnel with terrifying ferocity, and Elio knew that if he didn't act quickly, all his work would be destroyed…

The Locus that had seen him the first time (when he used ember to get some light), began to dig through the cores to reach him, so the tunnel could invoke the same reaction.

He had to do something about the Locus that had already seen the tunnel.

With his heart beating frantically, Elio made a decision. He couldn't allow the Locus to destroy the tunnel that had taken him 7 days of hunger and boredom...

More than 400 mana points.

It was time to go on the offensive.

Channeling his power, Elio created three ignited carbon balls. He would make them explode at an angle so that the fragments would hit all the Locus at once.

Elio's Mana: 49

"Here goes," he growled, launching the balls towards the Locus surrounding the tunnel.

The explosions resonated in the air, illuminating the space with a blinding glow. The Locus were eliminated in the third explosion, their massive bodies disintegrating in the rain of fragments.

Elio had stopped absorbing cores, and now he could see how they began to rearrange themselves, slowly filling the empty spaces around the tunnel.

It was a fascinating spectacle, but Elio had no time to admire it.

Other Locus kept arriving, attracted by the chaos and destruction.

Elio found himself in a frantic battle, launching attack after attack to eliminate the creatures that saw his tunnel. Every 3 ignited carbon balls he launched eliminated several Locus, but more seemed to take their place.

"Just a little more," he told himself, watching as the cores continued to cover the tunnel. "Just a few more and my progress will be safe."

A minute passed but that minute seemed to stretch eternally. Elio fought with all his might, his mana dangerously decreasing with each attack. And the worst part was that, despite his efforts, more and more Locus had discovered him.

The situation was becoming untenable.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the tunnel was completely covered by the cores. Elio exhaled a sigh of relief, but he knew it wasn't time to celebrate. He had spent a dangerous amount of mana, and now found himself surrounded by Locus that knew his location.

Elio jumped 6 meters in the air and propelled himself another 3 from the wall as he did the last time he went up...

From there he eliminated the last Locus that had seen the tunnel.

Elio's Mana: 28

"Time to leave," he muttered, initiating the retreat.

Elio knew that the almost 400 meters that separated him from the top of the wall should be manageable now that he had reached level 6.

He could cover 420 more meters in theory.

Without wasting a second more, he summoned Gust, his swift. Wide Guard disappeared as Gust took its place.

Gust's presence immediately changed the dynamics of his movement. Where before his maximum helium pushes would reach 60 centimeters, now he could cover distances of up to 12 meters in a single push.

After the push, he stuck to the wall and jumped 3 meters more to repeat the push. This way he managed to advance 15 meters per mana point.

As he ascended, Elio couldn't help but reflect on what he had discovered. The bare tunnel was not only not an effective hiding place, but it seemed to attract the Locus.

It was valuable information, although disheartening.

It meant that any structure they built in the sea of monsters would have to be constantly protected by a layer of cores.

But for now, all that mattered was getting safely to the top of the wall. With Gust helping him, Elio continued his ascent, each push taking him closer to safety, closer to home.

Almost 300 meters later Elio felt something strange... his vision was blurring.

Elio's Mana: 8

But it was strange, his mana should be a little more than enough to arrive and he hadn't had to jump so much as to feel like this.

There should be less than 100 meters left.

He had to resist.

Elio's Mana: 2

6 more mana points should have been about 90 meters, there should be 10 m or less left, but the top looked a bit far, Elio's vision was very blurred.

Something was wrong.

Elio's Stamina: 0.2

Elio's Mana: 1

The top was in sight, but maybe a bit far... would he reach it in 15 meters?

Elio didn't know that hunger was negatively affecting his total stamina and its efficiency.

He didn't realize that in his small mental spasms he slid a bit on the wall and lost a few meters each jump.

The last jump.

Elio's Stamina: 0.01

Elio's Mana: 0

The top of the wall was in front of him. Elio tried to keep his consciousness awake with pure fury and tenacity…

He stretched his hand as far as he could.

But he fell short by just a few cm.

He began to fall back to his probable death due to carelessness, a small miscalculation.

Until someone grabbed his hand.

"I've got you," said Zara.