Jason had not spoken since he had agreed to take Aiyana's deal. Once he had given in, everyone had thrown in their two cents.

To Sam and Jonathan, it seemed completely reasonable to help, as they saw this as a give-and-take. To Wesley it was more a case of an unknown dungeon he got to explore. He'd have happily taken the deal, even if their reward did not include the equipment.

Mark on the other hand had taken the time to find out what was so worrying about this particular dungeon.

"Our reasons for wanting them to go are two-fold, firstly it will continue to grow until it arrives at our front door, so this is only a precaution. The other reason is far more urgent. The Corrupted inside the dungeon are unknown but they do pose a huge threat to our [Mental network]. They seem to create a large disruption in the surrounding Mana which is how we detected them in the first place"

Mark rubbed his chin at this detail, Aiyana could not describe what the Corrupted creatures looked like on account of never having seen them, but they theorized that they were not yet that strong. The dungeon was recent so it would not have had a chance to get too powerful yet.

Either way they needed it gone. After getting an exact lotion of the supposed dungeon, they decided to head out right away. The settlement was still quiet as they left, the people still going about their work with an unsettling calm. When the wall came into sight Mark lifted them over it and Sam tuned back to Aiyana who had slung her bow back over her shoulders.

"It was wonderful to meet you, I hope we can deal with your problem and return. If we don't, please use the open channel we gave you to contact our city."

Aiyana nodded thanks as Jonathan rolled his eyes and put his arm over Sam's shoulder.

"Come on don't say things like that. I'll kill my way out of there if I have to." Sam snorted playfully at him and took his arm off her shoulder.

"Now that I believe. But it never hurts to be cautious."

Jonathan made an exasperated grunt but nodded calmly.

They all took off into the air under their own power as the journey was not that far away, though Mark did take the time to use [Light control] to hide their figures. He was getting better as time went on, needing less and less of Sam's help.

As they flew onward, the journey grew unusually quiet; Jason still hadn't spoken a word. Normally, his talkative nature would've filled the silence, but now, the others couldn't help but notice the worried look etched across his face. His brows were furrowed, and he seemed deep in thought, as though wrestling with some enormous problem.

Mark glanced over at Jonathan, catching his eye. Jonathan raised an eyebrow in response, as if to say, 'Hey, you're the one who made him like this—your job to fix it.'

With the prying eyes behind them, Mark decided to find out what was going on with Jason. He flew closer to him and created a construct to surround just the two of them, going so far as to thicken it to prevent sound from leaking out.

Previously, sounds could bleed through Mark's construct, but with its current evolution that was minimized to almost nothing. Even Jonathan would be hard-pressed to hear anything through this barrier.

"Jason, I know that was hard back there, but why would you risk us all? Is it just about getting back to your soldiers, or is it something else?"

Jason was quiet for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"Do you know how the Loyalist command structure works these days?"

Mark shook his head, recalling a rough idea from when Karter had been part of their faction, but things had likely changed.

Jason continued, "It's similar to the old ways, but now rank is everything. Commanders and colonels hold the most say. At first, it worked, but as the world turned into more of a shitshow, cracks started to show on those under extreme pressure. People can only strain for so long before it starts to affect their decision making"

He looked over at their companions in the other construct.

"The worst part? There's no high command. We're stuck with whoever's got the title, even if they're falling apart. Our acting commander… he lost his daughters right in front of him, and he's been pushing for defensive battles from the safety of a bunker. I don't fault him for this, he's an incredible man who led us through the worst of it, but he can't see the toll on the front."

Mark's eyes widened, surprised Jason would reveal so much. He had always wondered who was at the top of the rungs of the Loyalists. Jason went on,

"Command won't leave their bunkers, so they don't know how desperate it's getting. They're afraid to risk themselves, which I understand, but we can't keep this up. They've promised me a promotion if I can pull this off smoothly. But if I fail... I won't be able to make any difference and more of my men are going to die."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Mark watched him, taking it all in.

"I won't pretend I have the answers, and I'm not gonna say you should just abandon the Loyalists. They're essential to all of us, even if we disagree. You already see the need for change; now, it's about making them see it too." Mark paused. "Even if it means leaving behind those who won't adapt."

Mark didn't like the idea, but certain types of people fed off of humanity were only dragging them down now. People like Oscar and Grace didn't have a place here anymore. Mark didn't know if this commander was like them but something had to give in order to save lives.

Jason looked at him, eyes distant but thoughtful. Mark added slowly, "Maybe it's time to get a little more forceful."

Jason snorted and shook his head.

"Easy to say. Harder to make reality."

Mark glanced at Sam, who was watching through the construct.

"Yeah, it is. Karter left because he couldn't stand for their ways, but maybe you're the one who can change things from within. We're going to clear out this dungeon and return with our prize, when we do they will have to give you the promotion. And even if they don't, you can still do things that make a difference on your own. If you want help all you need do is ask"

Jason looked like he was mulling it over but Mark didn't interrupt him. Letting them fly in relative silence but eventually, Jason spoke again.

"Is that what you did? I've read the file we have on you, unlike Samanth or Jonathan, they're convinced you are both a threat and an asset."

Mark glanced out of the corner of his eye to look at Jason.

"I'm not a threat to anyone, I'm just a healer…"

The fact that Jason just stared at Mark proved he didn't believe him for a second.

"Honestly, I can defend myself, and if need be rain down some destruction, but my ultimate goal is to save lives. One I believe we both share"

Jason didn't answer so he went on.

"If you read our file then you'll understand that our situation was not too dissimilar to Aiyana's. The thing is we decided that we weren't going to just survive. We made it our goal to stabilize the situation, even if that meant we needed to ignore the previous laws. That may work for you and it may not, but either way, we're the same."

Jason didn't say anything more but Mark knew he couldn't push the guy any further, he needed to come to his own conclusions. Mark lowered the construct and resumed flying towards the quarry.

They neared the location with little problems, but Mark could feel the levels of Corruption ticking up the closer they got.

A dungeon was close.

When the quarry came into view, Mark's stomach lurched. From the looks of things, this place was nothing more than a hole in the ground, its top layer of soil gouged out, revealing the lower levels of rock like a cross-section of a mountain. Water had pooled in the ditch and mixed with the bottom layer of grit and soil, creating a fetid swamp. Cranes and pieces of abandoned mining equipment poked up from the waist-high water.

As they neared the area, the stink of decaying plant matter wormed its way into their nostrils, along with something more sinister. Clumps of Corruption floated on the surface of the water, coating it with an oily rainbow sheen.

The area was large but they didn't see anything too dangerous there. Mark spotted a couple of Corrupted Ordinators sloshing about in the mud, but beyond that nothing to dangerous.

That was when Wesley pointed out the opening to a mine shaft half submerged in dirty water.

Seeing this they descended and Mark killed off any Ordinators that passed by, while Sam began to evaporate the water. She built an ice dam near the entrance to the tunnel and pulled all the surrounding water away from the entrance. More came pouring out of the mineshaft so she continued to evaporate the water with and small amount of heat and [water control]. Mark handled the small amounts of clay and dirt that were extracted when the water left and sent it over the ice wall, but soon enough they had emptied out the opening only for Mark to spot an archway that had been submerged under the water.

Its coffee-colored stone was still in perfect condition as the water drained away, clearly placed here by the system.

"Alright, Sam, Mark. Behind me. Jason and Wesley, you cover their flanks. Keep an eye on the wall, there's no telling how the water weakened them."

Sam suddenly glanced at Mark calling for them to stop.

"Actually this might be the perfect test. Mark why don't you try getting a handle on your [earth mastery.], if there's something dangerous down there you would be able to tell"

Mark pressed his lips together. but nodded.

Taking a breath, Mark balanced his senses and removed the construct from the soles of his boots, and the moment they touched down, the land expanded out beneath him.

His Mana wove through the tortured earth and before the vertigo set in he felt dozens of small creatures making their way towards them.

Mark's eyes snapped open and he turned away from the opening of the mine shaft and back towards the water behind them.

"Incoming! Twenty-eight small creatures moving towards us! I don't recognize them!"

Everyone went on guard as Mark's construct bloomed outwards. Sam made a flicking motion and the water behind them rushed backward like a receding tide, only to reveal black ants the size of footballs. Their outer chitin looked soft and almost maluable like it was made from jelly. If Mark squinted he could even see organs floating about inside the creatures.

They were on the smaller size but if Mark had learned anything, it was that you didn't gauge something's strength from its size alone.

The Corrupted ants seemed to realize they had been discovered and took off towards them.

What Mark didn't expect was the sudden mental jab that bounced off his construct.

It was weak and amateurish, even Mark could have done better with his low-level [Mink spike] but then another arrived, and another. With each one joining the attack, it became more annoying to block, but Mark was still very much in control.

To their surprise, the ants stopped about a meter or two away from the wall and seemed to remain there posturing their bodies aggressively but not advancing.

"What the hell are they doing?" Jonathan glanced over at Mark.

"They're attacking us…" Mark said in a level voice, which only caused Jonathan more confusion.

Mark had forgotten they couldn't feel the attacks and because they were purely mental they couldn't even see them. Sam seemed to have an idea but to everyone else, the corrupted were just standing there.

"They're using weak mental assaults," Mark explained.

Jonathan studied the creatures, then turned back to Mark, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

"Wait—kill a few of them. I have an idea."

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