By the time Sam reached the cavern, the obelisk had receded into the

distance. There was barely any distortion in reality at this point, just a

few odd whorls in spacetime here and there. In Sam's immediate

vicinity, his own elemental mastery was more than sufficient to

obliterate them.

Peering at the warp and weft of the local elemental plane, Sam

saw sparks of black and yellow war for dominance. The yellow sparks,

representing his own elemental mastery, vastly outnumbered the Dark

attuned iotas of elemental power. They danced around him like tiny

stars, destroying one another in their primal dance. Sam let his eyes

flicker around, watching as new sparks were birthed into being every

now and then, engaging in a war of attrition that would never end.

Some day, when Sam had months, or perhaps even years on his

hands, he would simply watch his Dao and element interact with the

world around him, and find greater insights into their nature. For now,

though, he had more pressing concerns.

Feeling the cavern extending beneath him with Worldsense,

Sam teleported into it, letting gravity take him down the last few

hundred feet. He landed between two squat earthen huts, bending

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knees. Rather than trying to preserve his body, he was instead trying

to save the road beneath him from cracking. With E Rank stats, and

the third threshold of Resilience crossed, he was more durable than

almost any mundane substance. It would be like dropping an anvil

onto a sheet of ice.

A few of the Gemstone Spirits wandered around nearby, talking

animatedly about their elemental cultivation. One of them was

bouncing an orb of condensed Earth elemental energy in her hand,

seemingly showing it off to her companions.

"Is the Matriarch back in her chamber?" Sam called out, startling

the much smaller elementals.

"Oh!" The speaker said, her sphere of elemental energy dropping

to the side. "It's you. Yes, the Matriarch is in her dwelling. She's been

waiting for you."

Sam nodded his thanks, and strode off, hearing the others

tittering behind his back. Something about him, no doubt. He could

have easily listened in with his highly advanced hearing, but he wasn't

interested.A few moments later, Sam strode into the large dome at the

center of the village, finding the Matriarch sitting in silent

contemplation.

"A successful mission, I take it?" She said without opening her

eyes.

"It was. All of the elementals are dead, save for the Shadow

Raven itself." Sam frowned. "I still have six more quests left, and even

if upgrading my Dao is one of them, what about the other five?"

"I'm not sure what the Prime Crystal has tasked you with, but

there is something that needs your attention."

As in many of the other multiverses Sam had visited, well, one

other if he was being honest, the locals had a different name for the

System.

"And that being?" Sam pressed.

"Your arrival weakened the dimensional boundaries of this

realm," the Matriarch explained. "A few hours ago, a group of

prospectors entered in search of minerals." She shuddered. "Well, to

be blunt, in search of us. Gemstone Spirits are hunted down in

the outside world for an easy source of higher Rank gemstones. Invaders

have come before, but not this often."

"That's horrible!" Sam explained. "To kill your enemies is one

thing, but to hunt down sapients for their body parts?" He shook his

head. "Pure evil. I assume you want me to deal with them?"

The Matriarch smiled. "I do. Kill them all. Without mercy."

Sam nodded. "You know, if not for the situation, you might have

given me the wrong sort of impression. I get it though. It's an

existential threat."

"It is. Now, you have your task, and I assume you wish to start as

quickly as possible." The Matriarch gestured towards the ceiling of her

dome. "Have a good hunt."

Sam gave the Matriarch a single nod, and then teleported away,

appearing on the surface of the elemental plane. He had no idea

where the intruders were, but he could find them easily enough with

his senses.

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