CHAPTER 374: CRYOLITE EXTRACTION

The camper van hummed steadily as it rolled across the frozen wasteland, its reinforced tires crunching against jagged ice and compacted snow.

Through the van’s reinforced windows, the group could see the desolate landscape stretching endlessly, an unbroken expanse of black ice and glittering frost.

Mako studied the map on the van’s dashboard, tracing their route to the mineral extraction site. The blinking blue marker wasn’t far; only 12 miles, but the uneven terrain and Infernis’ relentless gravity made progress slow and exhausting. He glanced at Erin and Alexi, both seated and silent, conserving their energy for the mission ahead.

Every so often, the van jolted as it rolled over a particularly uneven patch of ice. Alexi grunted, gripping the edge of his seat, looking extremely motion-sick. "This planet is trying to break us before we even get out of the van."

"It’s a test," Erin replied, her voice calm but tinged with tension. "Everything about this place is designed to push us to our limits."

Mako tightened his grip on the steering controls, his eyes scanning the terrain ahead.

"Erin, can you manipulate the ice from inside the van? If you can, try flattening the surface and carving out a path through the snow. It’ll make it much easier for us to reach our destination that way." Mako said.

However, Erin simply shook her head.

"I tried to do that from the moment we started moving. There are some traces of actual water snow but too small for me to control. The majority of the snow is not made from water so I can’t manipulate it at all," Erin replied.

"The snow is not made out of water? What kind of snow is this?" Alexi asked, clearly confused.

"It’s the frozen gases in the atmosphere that have condensed and precipitated as snow," Mako answered as he remembered the atmospheric composition of Infernis that he read from the information package that was given to him as he was assigned the high-tier planet.

The snow was mostly dry ice, also known as solid carbon dioxide.

Until the group discovered a way for them to better traverse the uneven plains of this frozen desert, this was the only way they could travel from place to place.

As the group continued forward the sensors would eventually pick up faint heat signatures of nearby beasts but with such little light coming from the camper van, the group wasn’t able to spot anything moving within the snow. Since nothing ventured close enough to trigger alarms they decided to just leave them be and just focus on arriving at the mission location.

After an hour and a half of careful navigation, the blue marker on the map blinked brighter, signaling their arrival.

Mako brought the camper van to a stop atop a small ridge overlooking the extraction site. The location was a shallow basin, its surface glittering faintly under the faint light coming from the headlights of the camper van. The ground below was pockmarked with crystalline formations that jutted out like jagged teeth, their surfaces ever so slightly glowing.

"This is it," Mako said, shutting off the engine. He activated the van’s exterior sensors, scanning the area for any immediate threats. The display showed no movement, but the group knew better than to let their guard down, they were certain company would arrive sooner or later.

Mako clicked on the mission brief, the holographic display glowing softly as the description of Cryolite was displayed before them.

A rare mineral with crystalline structures that emit a faint blue glow. The mission outlined the steps for extraction: locating vein clusters, using thermal drills to break apart the formations, and safely storing the shards in reinforced containers.

Warnings about the area’s potential dangers were also mentioned unstable ice formations and the risk of attracting local wildlife.

Now the major issue was that the group hadn’t bothered to purchase any tools for their mission as they didn’t feel like it would be necessary and would just be a waste of their limited tokens.

So now, they had to figure out a way to carefully extract Cryolite without possessing the necessary tools as the quality of the mined material would directly impact their score for this mission.

"I have an idea," Alexi stated, "I can use my magnetism ability to mold and rotate a small piece of metal to act as a drill and you can heat it using your fire ability to make it just like a thermal drill,"

The group really liked the idea of creating a makeshift thermal drill using their own abilities and seeing how this was basically their only way of potentially mining some good quality Cryolite crystals, they decided to just go ahead with it.

"Stick together and stay alert," Mako instructed. He led the way down into the basin, his boots crunching on the ice. Erin followed closely, her bow slung across her back, while Alexi carried a few metal chunks to use as drills with his Sypher Wing Twin Blades strapped to his hips.

The group quickly set up a small extraction zone and started scattering light sources all over so that they would be able to see their surroundings and find the Cryolite.

The search for Cryolite deposits didn’t take long. The faint blue glow beneath the ice was unmistakable. Mako knelt beside one of the formations, his gloved hand brushing away a layer of frost to reveal the crystal’s jagged surface. "Here’s one," he said, motioning for Alexi to start forming the drill.

Alexi quickly activated his magnetism ability and began molding one of the chunks of metal into a drill. Thanks to the freezing temperatures, Mako had to spam fireball onto the drill many times until it was finally glowing red hot.

The hot drill was a bit hard for Alexi to control as hot metal wasn’t as magnetic as cold metal but he was still able to make it spin and move around, only a bit less accurately.

Alexi began spinning the drill while Mako maintained its temperature by constantly feeding it flames from the side so that it wouldn’t immediately cool down.

A sharp whirring sound broke the oppressive silence as the drill bit into the ice, sending shards flying as it exposed more of the mineral vein. Erin kept watch, her eyes scanning the ridges around the basin, her bow ready in her hands.

Half an hour passed in tense focus as the group worked. They had managed to extract several decent-quality Cryolite shards when a low rumble echoed across the basin. Mako froze, his instincts kicking in. "Did you hear that?"

Before anyone could respond, the rumble grew louder, accompanied by the crunch of ice. From the shadows of a nearby ridge, a trio of massive creatures emerged. Each of them stood towering above the group, their bodies seemingly sculpted from the very stone beneath the ice. Their rocky exteriors glinted faintly with embedded crystals, and their movements, though slow, carried a weight that made the ground tremble with every step.

[Analyze]

[High-level Rock Golem] ⓘ

[Ability: Earth (Level 3), Hardening (Level 3)]

[Weakness: Fire, Lightnning, Penetrating attacks]

"Get active! Three beasts right in front of us... Judging from their aura, they look like high-tier beasts to me," Mako called out as the system fed him critical information.

The first Rock Golem let out a deep, resonating growl, its glowing eyes locking onto the group. It raised one massive arm, bringing it crashing down with enough force to shatter the icy ground, sending shards flying through the air.

Mako unsheathed his katana and Erin nocked an arrow, determined to slow down the beast while Alexi worked on extracting the final Cryolite crystal they would need to mark their mission complete.

The battle began with a thunderous clash as the first golem lumbered forward. Its movements were slow and sloppy. Mako dodged its swinging arm, the impact of its missed strike sending a tremor through the ground causing Alexi to shake and scratch one of the surfaces of the crystal.

"Stop it from striking the ground!" Alexi yelled out, "I can’t do shit with that thing causing tiny earthquakes, every time it smashes the ground!"

Mako quickly understood Alexi’s command and retaliated with a slash of his katana, the blade sparking against the rocky surface. The strike left a thin line but failed to pierce the creature’s hardened exterior.

This left Mako amazed as he didn’t expect his weapon to do so little damage on a simple high-tier beast.

Erin aimed for the glowing fissures along the golem’s chest, releasing an arrow that whistled through the frigid air. It struck true, embedding itself in the rocky armor, but the golem showed no sign of pain. "Their armor’s too thick!" she shouted, already preparing another shot.

However, in that time, the beast slammed onto the ground again sending a wave to shards at Erin that she was barely able to dodge.

Mako and Erin continued to fight the beast but could only do minimal amounts of damage which was a shocking revelation for both of them.

The tremors from the beast’s attacks kept causing the ground to shake and making Alexi’s life a living hell of trying to extract these shards of Cryolite in relatively good condition.

With another tremor, Alexi’s hand slipped once again, deeply scratching another surface of the crystal and making it completely useless.

Immense rage filled Alexi’s heart as he couldn’t believe that all of his hard work had just gone down the drain. He quickly equipped his Sypher Wing Twin Blades and started sprinting towards the golem that Mako and Erin were still fighting.

Alexi moved swiftly, his blades cutting through the air as he targeted the golem’s joints. He used his lightning ability to accelerate his speed and managed to strike one of its legs, chipping away at the stone, but the creature was unaffected and retaliated with a backhanded swing.

The blow connected, sending Alexi sprawling across the ice. He landed hard, the breath knocked out of him.

"Alexi!" Mako shouted, rushing to his side with Erin following closely behind while providing cover fire from her bow. The projectile hit the golem squarely in the crystal embedded into its chest, causing it to stagger. The glowing fissures along its body flared brightly for a moment before dimming again.

"Alexi!? Are you okay...?" Mako asked to which he only received an unintelligible groaning.

Erin arrived shortly after observing the effect her last arrow had made on the golem." Guys... I think I found a way..."

*BOOM!* *SHAKE!* *RUMBLE!*

Just then the remaining two golems that had only been observing the battle from atop the ridge finally decided to jump down and join the battle after Erin’s arrow had made the first golem stagger.

"Oh boy..."